Associate Professor of Psychology Cheryl Stuntz knows what it takes to make a student-athlete tick.

“I strongly believe that sports psychology is an applied science,” she says, and few professors apply themselves more thoroughly than Stuntz. Besides co-teaching a First-Year Program (FYP) course on lifestyles with Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Jodi Canfield, Stuntz is one of two NCAA faculty representatives to the athletics department and serves on the Athletic Advisory Committee. She also teaches two sports psychology courses per semester and a First-Year Seminar (FYS) focused on the study of happiness; both her FYP and FYS classes feature a community-based learning component.

“A place like St. Lawrence attracts professors who are teaching-focused,” Stuntz says. “The best part of my job is the time spent in the classroom, interacting with students.” Stuntz’s background in NCAA swimming and water polo has helped her relate to students in all sports, as has her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and her Ph.D. in sports psychology from the University of Virginia.

When Stuntz is not teaching, she’s still working with students. “I really love doing research, especially with students,” she explains.  Most of her research focuses on trying to understand the social influences on sport, but when Kurt Reh ’13approached her to collaborate on his summer music and psychology fellowship, she eagerly accepted.

“We examined music stereotypes, and looked at how people make judgments about who you are based on what you listen to,” Stuntz says.

While the music element of Reh’s project was initially outside her area of expertise, Stuntz rose to the challenge. “I found the student-faculty collaboration element of the fellowship to be a really positive experience,” she says.

In her future psychology research, Stuntz hopes to move toward testing strategies through practice—a familiar concept to the athletes she studies. 

-Molly Lunn ’12