Michelle "Mikki" Hebl

Mikki's primary appointment is in the department of Psychological Sciences as Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Chair of Psychology. She is a proud native of Pardeeville, Wisconsin, who graduated with her B.A. from Smith College and her Ph.D. at Dartmouth College. She joined the faculty at Rice University in 1998 and was given the endowed title of the Radoslav Tsanoff Assistant Professorship in 2000. 

Mikki is an applied psychologist who is interested in the ways in which social psychological phenomena can be applied to industries and organizations. Her research specifically focuses on workplace discrimination and the barriers stigmatized individuals (such as women and ethnic minorities) face in social interactions, the hiring process, business settings, and the medical community.  In addition, she addresses ways in which both individuals and organizations might remediate such discrimination. She has more than 100 publications that include journal articles, book chapters, and edited books. In addition to conducting basic research, she is very interested in presenting her and others’ related research findings to educate others and ameliorate disparate social inequities.

Mikki is particularly a strong advocate for gender issues and the intersection of gender and leadership. She twice has received Rice University Women's Resource Center Impact Awards for her commitment to research on gender and service to women in the community. In 2006, she was one of five co-PI’s at Rice who received an NSF grant for over three and one-half million dollars to advance women in STEM fields on Rice University’s campus. In 2010 and 2011, she was co-awarded NIH grants to examine gender biases in letters of recommendation (’10) and successful mentoring relationships (’11). She is a Fellow of Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and American Psychological Society.

Mikki is also simply passionate about teaching—she attends teaching conferences and has been a keynote speaker at several of them.She advises and teaches graduate and undergraduate students courses such as Professional Issues, Social Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Leadership, the Psychology of Gender, Diversity and Discrimination, Research Methods, and Organizational Behavior. In her 16 years at Rice, she has been the recipient of 15 major teaching awards. To top this off, she was selected as the Commencement Speaker at Rice University’s 2005 graduation ceremonies.  This marked the first time a faculty member was ever nominated and chosen by the students to give the address.

In her spare time, Mikki is an avid Green Bay Packer fan and completed her quest to run a marathon in every state in December of last year. Now, she has her sites set on all seven continents. She and her husband, David, also keep busy with their two older boys, David and Christopher, and their 10 year-old son, Jackson, 8 year-old daughter, Cecilia, and 5-year old, Caroline.

Speaking Engagements:

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference 2024