HumRRO is excited to announce that Vivien Lee is the 2026 HumRRO Fellowship in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology recipient. Lee is a doctoral student in I-O psychology at the University of Minnesota whose dissertation examines how job applicants cope with the stress and anxiety associated with employment interviews.
Since 1998, the HumRRO Fellowship in I-O Psychology has been one of the most prestigious awards in the field, recognizing doctoral students whose research has the potential to advance both science and practice. HumRRO also awards the annual HumRRO Fellowship in Educational Measurement and Evaluation to recognize and support doctoral students in education and related fields. (Read about the 2026 HumRRO Fellowship in Educational Measurement and Evaluation winner, Fernando Mena.)
Lee’s dissertation explores an area that has received comparatively less attention in employee selection research: the applicant experience. While much of the field’s research has focused on measurement quality and organizational outcomes, Lee is investigating how applicants respond to the stress and anxiety of job interviews and how those experiences may be better understood and managed.
“Job interviews are among the most important and stressful experiences many people encounter in their careers,” said Lee. “I’m honored that HumRRO has recognized the value of research that focuses on the applicant experience. My hope is that this work will help us better understand how applicants navigate interview-related stress and ultimately inform ways to make the hiring process more effective and humane.”
Receiving the fellowship was especially meaningful to Lee because it recognizes both her scholarly accomplishments and her development as a scientist-practitioner. She noted that pursuing this dissertation represented an opportunity to branch into a new area of research that she found personally meaningful and professionally important.
HumRRO CEO Dr. Suzanne Tsacoumis presented Vivien Lee with the HumRRO Fellowship in I-O Psychology.
“Receiving the HumRRO I-O Psychology Fellowship is a tremendous honor because of HumRRO’s strong reputation in the field,” Lee. “It means being recognized both for my research accomplishments and for my development as a scientist-practitioner, which is extremely meaningful as I hope to build a career that bridges research and practice.”
The fellowship includes a non-renewable stipend of $18,000 that Lee plans to use as she completes the final stages of her doctoral training and dissertation research, while also creating opportunities to share her findings with the broader I-O psychology community.
“HumRRO is proud to support emerging scholars whose work advances both research and practice,” said Suzanne Tsacoumis, Ph.D., HumRRO President and CEO. “Vivien exemplifies the curiosity, rigor, and commitment to impact that our fellowship seeks to recognize, and we look forward to following her contributions to the field.”
Lee expressed gratitude to her advisor, Richard Landers, Ph.D., whose mentorship she said has challenged her to grow while providing unwavering support. She also thanked Paul Sackett, Ph.D., and Nathan Kuncel, Ph.D., for exposing her to new areas of research and helping her become a more well-rounded scholar.
Applications for the 2027 HumRRO Fellowship in Educational Measurement and Evaluation and HumRRO Fellowship in Industrial-Organizational Psychology will open in April 2027.
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