Dr. Colin M. MacLeod

Colin was born in Montréal, Québec, where he did his undergraduate degree at McGill University, graduating in 1971. From there, he moved to the University of Washington in Seattle, where he did his graduate work (PhD 1975), focusing on memory, and a postdoc, focusing on individual differences in cognition. He then moved to the University of Toronto at Scarborough where he spent a quarter century as a professor. In 2003, he moved to the University of Waterloo as a professor. He has served as Chair of his department at both institutions.

Throughout his career, Colin's research has emphasized the broad domain of human cognition, with particular interest in attention, learning, and memory. Initially, his work was in the area of verbal learning and memory, with emphasis on long-term memory structure and process, and especially on the study of intentional forgetting. These domains then led him to a continuing interest in the area of attention, primarily related to the development of skill (automaticity) through learning/practice. In recent years, his memory research has focused on the roles of consciousness, context, and inhibition in memory, with a featured program of research on the production effect: the benefit to memory of reading aloud. His work has been published in top journals including Science, Psychological Review, Psychological Bulletin, Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Psychology, and Memory & Cognition.

Colin has served as Editor of both the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology and Memory & Cognition, and has been a member of numerous editorial boards. His career research contributions have been recognized by the Donald O. Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) and by the CPA Donald O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science from the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). For his academic leadership, he has been honoured with the Richard C. Tees Distinguished Leadership Award from CSBBCS. He also received the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Canadian Psychology from CPA. In 2016, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

When not "psychologizing" (a term Colin was introduced to during a grilling by a US customs agent), Colin is an avid reader and an even more avid listener to lots of genres of music (but especially blues, folk, and rock).  He prides himself on being a mediocre alpine skier and golfer, and has recently taken up painting, with the hope of becoming mediocre at that as well.

For an interview, check out https://uwaterloo.ca/news/psychology-professor-honoured-prestigious-award