For Chris Wolfe, coming back to Ohio after leaving his hometown of Cleveland Heights to attend Denison University was not the plan. But the opportunity to work at Miami University after receiving his doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D.) in cognitive psychology from the University of Pittsburgh turned into a 36-year-long career in academia.
“It kind of just worked out that way,” Wolfe said. “I’ve had offers from people to see if I wanted to move someplace else, but I’ve been really, really happy here. I’ve enjoyed working with Miami students.”
Wolfe said he originally started working at Miami in 1989 within the Western College’s individualized studies program, where he stayed for two decades.
“I love that program,” Wolfe said. “I miss it, but I was always an affiliate of psychology, a cognitive psychologist, and that was my research area.”
Since moving to be in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Psychology department in 2008, Wolfe has run a research lab focused on medical decision-making, though he’s researched many areas of cognitive psychology throughout his career.
“Medical decisions are some of the most important ones people can make,” Wolfe said, “and anybody could get sick with cancer and not have a big background in biology or anything, but today we don’t just turn it over to the doctors [to decide] … we call it shared decision making.”
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Wolfe has also allowed undergraduate and graduate-level students to work with him in his lab.
Jordan Ritterbeck, a senior psychology and pre-medical studies major with a minor in neuroscience, has worked in the medical decision-making lab since fall 2023. She also took his capstone class focused on medical decision-making this past fall semester.
“I feel like he genuinely cares about what each student has to say and cares about their understanding, especially in class,” Ritterbeck said. “He’s just been a really good mentor for me, and it’s nice to have someone … that you can talk about real things with.”
Another one of Wolfe’s responsibilities at Miami is serving as director of graduate studies in psychology. In this role, Wolfe oversees two Ph.D. students. Although he is stepping away from teaching undergraduate classes after this school year, Wolfe will continue to oversee his two Ph.D students through their graduation next year.
One of his students, Wylie Brace, is focusing on media psychology and the impact of short-form media on current events and decision-making of consumers as part of his dissertation project.
He said one thing he enjoys about working with Wolfe, both as a Ph.D. student and in his lab, is the independence he’s been given on projects.
“If you need the help, he’ll be there for you,” Brace said, “but he doesn’t force his 35-plus years of research down on anybody else’s ideology.”
Brace also acknowledged how Wolfe has helped him manage the high expectations of working in academia and developing research.
“There’s a lot of rigor that goes into publishing and coming up with good work,” Brace said. “So a lot of times, your closest people can critique you pretty heavily when you’re trying to do research. And he’s probably the one that has taught me, ‘Hey, let it roll off your back, that’s how you become a better researcher.’”
A career highlight for Wolfe occurred when his research took him across the world to Venice, Italy.
“I got to do some neat travels with work and collaborate with some good people,” Wolfe said. “That’s been one of my favorite things … working with students and working with ideas.”
Throughout his career, Wolfe has taught many students and said he finds it rewarding to see them go on to live successful lives.
“I think Miami students are bright and hard-working and also have fun, but working one-on-one [can really] make a difference,” Wolfe said. “Being around long enough to see some of my former students, especially in the Western College program, go on … and live interesting, positive lives has been great. Having that kind of impact has been really good.”
While Wolfe will still be advising his graduate students during the beginning of his retirement, he is looking forward to having increased flexibility in his work schedule.
“I have things that I want to write up, but I’ll do that at my pace,” Wolfe said. “If it’s nice weather, I’ll go fishing, and if it’s raining, maybe I’ll do a little writing.”
After years of a lifelong career in learning, Wolfe said he hopes to continue doing so, but in a different way than as an active academic.
“I hope I’m always open to learning to do new things,” Wolfe said, “but I’m ready to start trying to find different ways to live my life … There’s a lot of ways to live a good life.”
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