Dr. McCoy Joins Faculty, Hopes to Teach Students ‘Joys of Psychology’
Courtney Milzarek
At the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, Manchester gained a new faculty member, Dr. Mark McCoy, who began his professional journey as an assistant professor of psychology.
From his junior year of high school, McCoy knew he was interested in psychology, even though he changed his mind throughout his college career. “My first declared major when I started college in 2005 at Oakland University was psychology, but I switched to biology in 2006 and my initial interest was to become a psychiatrist,” he said. “In 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology and had a change of heart, adding and completing a Bachelor of Arts in psychology by 2011.”
That year McCoy met his master’s degree advisor at Oakland University, who went on to inspire him to pursue his PhD in psychology. He was accepted to Bowling Green State University’s cognitive neuroscience doctoral program.
After finishing his PhD, McCoy began to look for work in 2019. While applying for jobs in the Midwest, he found an open position at Manchester, and after some research, he was impressed. He liked the mission statement and core principals of Manchester. After visiting campus for the first time and meeting some of the faculty, he fell in love with Manchester’s culture. This is when he knew he wanted to start his professional career at MU.
McCoy was excited to meet students and talk with faculty upon arrival, but this has been challenging due to the pandemic. He is looking forward to being around and interacting with colleagues and students more in the future.
His goals as a professor are to develop as an instructor by expanding his comfort zone in the classroom, teaching more classes and showing students what he calls the “joys of psychology.” He also wants to develop new relationships with faculty. McCoy also has interest in being a part of the liberal arts program. “I want to bring who I am to the conversation at Manchester and contribute to the liberal arts community in whatever way I can,” he said.
McCoy has moved into Warsaw with his wife, two sons and his two cats. When he is not working on campus, he is focused on raising his sons and getting settled into his new home. On top of taking care of his house and children, McCoy likes to spend time playing Dungeon and Dragons with friends and likes to read novels. He had these hobbies during his college years and would meet up with friends and stay up too late playing games; indeed, he notes that “some of those memories are my most cherished.”
McCoy is extremely excited to be at Manchester University and looks forward to getting to know the community.