Dr. Sian L. Beilock is a cognitive scientist and the President of Barnard College. Her area of research was the differences between novice and expert athletic performances, and why people perform poorly in stressful academic situations.Before coming to Barnard College, Beilock was the Stella M. Rowly Professor of Psychology and Executive Vice Provost at the University of Chicago. Before that, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Miami University.Beilock's first book, "Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal about Getting It Right When You Have To," was published in 2010. Her second book, "How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel," was published in 2015.Beilock received her B.S. in cognitive science with a minor in psychology from the University of California, San Diego, and her Ph.D. in both kinesiology and psychology from Michigan State University.