Marion Underwood
Professor
Office: 339 BHSCI
Phone: (970) 491-5688
Email: marion.underwood@colostate.edu
Education: Ph.D., Duke University
Area of Specialization: Child Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology
Teaching Courses: on leave 2026
Current Research: As a foremost researcher in the developmental origins and outcomes of social aggression and how adolescents' digital communication relates to adjustment, Dr. Underwood's work has appeared in numerous scientific journals, and the National Institutes of Health supported her research program from 1995-2021. Beginning in 2003, she and her research group began conducting a longitudinal study on the origins and outcomes of social aggression and how adolescents use digital communication.
In 2003, Dr. Underwood authored the book "Social Aggression Among Girls." In 2015, she was featured in the CNN Anderson Cooper 360 special report "#Being13: Inside the Secret World of Teens." Dr. Underwood, an Association of Psychological Sciences Fellow, is a recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health's FIRST Award as well as the NIMH Independent Scientist Mid-Career Award.
Faculty Bio: Dr. Underwood joined CSU in January 2024 from Purdue University as CSU's Provost and Executive Vice President, a role in which she served until January of 2026. As Provost and Executive Vice President at CSU, her accomplishments included the creation of the university's Strategic Roadmap 2025: A National Model for the Modern Land Grant University, formulating the CSU System Vision for Student Mental Health 2023, playing a critical role in fine-tuning CSU's new hybrid RCM budget model, and hiring and developing multiple outstanding academic leaders including three Deans.
At Purdue, Dr. Underwood served as Dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) and Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences. She led the college through a period of strong enrollment growth and increased student success, oversaw a research portfolio for the college of $32 million during the 2021-22 academic year, collaborated with the University Senate to create a new winter term, and led a university-wide cluster hire in Public Health, Health Equity, and Health Policy to attract faculty members to enhance expertise in diversity.
Prior to her work at Purdue, Dr. Underwood was a faculty member at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, then moved to the University of Texas at Dallas, where she served as a professor and administrator. During her tenure at UT-Dallas, she was named the Ashbel Smith Professor of Psychological Sciences and received the Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award. She served as Associate Dean of programs and administration in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences before becoming Dean of graduate studies and Associate Provost.