Lisa Wagner

Lisa S. Wagner, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology, Director of the Gerontology Minor, and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Committee on Aging at the University of San Francisco (USF). She completed her BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, and her PhD in Social and Personality Psychology at the University of Washington. 

Prof. Wagner has conducted research on stereotyping and prejudice for the past 20 years. Through a grant from the National Institute on Aging and with support from USF, she has examined how stereotypes affect both the person holding the stereotype and the target of that stereotype. Her research has examined age-related stereotypes and older adults’ experience of stereotype threat. Her most recent research promotes intergenerational interactions between younger and older adults and then examines the effects of these interactions on attitudes toward both age groups. As Director of the Gerontology Minor and Chair of the USF Interdisciplinary Committee on Aging, she helps promote awareness of aging issues on campus and create opportunities for meaningful intergenerational contact.

Her teaching interests include courses on social psychology, the psychology of prejudice, the social psychology of aging, adulthood and aging, and a unique intergenerational course, Generation to Generation, that enrolls traditional college-aged students and retired older adults. She is currently co-writing the third edition of a book entitled, Aging and Diversity: An Active Learning Experience.