Alexandra Rush, PhD - Psychology Researcher with a Focus on Resilience An assistant professor of psychology at the State University of New York’s Empire State University campus, Alexandra Rush, PhD, has research interests ranging from intergenerational trauma to purpose and character virtue development. Also focused on family resilience and personal growth following trauma, Alexandra Rush, PhD, has explored Polish identity within the context of Nazi and Soviet occupation. Ms. Rush’s grant work includes a role as principal investigator in the Dickinson College-funded “Navigating Unbound Spaces: Exploring the Experiences of Girls in Scouting.” The qualitative study took a relational developmental systems perspective in understanding 13 adolescent girls’ purpose and identity development. She has also served as a research assistant with the Institute for Research on Youth Thriving and Evaluation (RYTE) at Montclair State University, where she served as coding lead and content expert on youth purpose, including training research staff on qualitative coding; and also performed qualitative and quantitative analysis of mixed methods datasets;. Ms. Rush holds a BA in Psychology earned at Rutgers University. She earned her MA at Long Island University in the same subject, having authored a thesis on “Internal-External Locus of Control in a Population of Alcohol-Dependent Males.” Alexandra Rush subsequently completed doctoral studies at Montclair State University and certification in genocide education and prevention with the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.