Psychology Psychology Adjunct Faculty

Smaranda Lawrie

Adjunct Professor of Psychology | Office Location: WH 217 | Email: slawrie@westmont.edu

Office Hours | Mayterm 2021 | By appointment

Smaranda is currently a Ph.D. student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  She is also completing her Master of Education with an emphasis in Research Methods at the Gevirtz School of Education. Smaranda has a M.L.A. in International Development from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in both Psychology and Economics from Yale University.  Her research focuses on the impact of both national cultures and socioeconomic cultures on a broad range of health, well-being, academic, and motivational outcomes. She is passionate about teaching and mentoring undergraduates and her teaching experience includes courses in General Psychology, Research Methods, Statistics, and Positive Psychology for college students, as well as Leadership and Management courses for mid-career professionals. She enjoys traveling, cooking, hiking, and most of all, time with her family.

Werner Schmidt

Adjunct Professor of Psychology | Office Location: WH 217 | Email: wschmidt@westmont.edu

Office Hours | Spring 2021 | By appointment

Werner earned his BA in Political Science at Long Island University-Post and MA in Educational Technology with a minor in International Relations at San Francisco State University where he also served as a Lecturer in the Graduate College of Education for more than 20 years. He is currently completing his PhD in General Psychology with an emphasis in Workplace Performance Psychology at Grand Canyon University. Werner served as the Director of The Solarwork Institute for the State of California as a special project under Governor Jerry Brown’s first administration. This entailed job training and development activities for low and unskilled personnel in the burgeoning solar energy field. He frequently travels to Cambodia where he consults on STEM education. Werner also is the past president of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and the past president of the Bay Area Chapter of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Werner’s interests are in organization behavior, performance psychology, and educational psychology.

Polly Matsuoka

Adjunct Professor of Psychology | Office Location: WH 217 | Email: pmatsuoka@westmont.edu

Office Hours | Spring 2021 | By appointment

Polly earned her BS in Human Development from UC Davis and her MA in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University.  She became licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in California in 1996 and maintained a private practice from 1996 through 2010 in San Jose, California.  Her primary areas of specialization as a clinician included Child Therapy, Multicultural Couple and Family Relationships, and Attachment-focused Family Therapy with Adoptive and Foster Families.  Concurrently, she provided therapeutic services, supervision of trainees and consultation by working with schools, churches, and community counseling agencies in the Bay Area.  Polly began teaching in graduate counseling psychology programs in 2007, and since then has taught courses in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Individual and Family Life Cycle Development, Multicultural Counseling, and Marriage Counseling.  Polly is happy to return to teaching after a break since 2016 when she relocated to the Santa Barbara area.  Continuing interests for Polly include attachment relationships for both couples and families, and integrating spiritual formation principles with developmental psychology.  Polly is married, has 3 grown sons, and loves paddle boarding in the waters of Santa Barbara and walking locally in Spain and Portugal on the Camino de Santiago.