SDSU | Division of Undergraduate Studies | Christopher Frost, Ph.D.

Christopher Frost, Ph.D.

Associate Dean , Division of Undergraduate Studies

Dr. Christopher Frost, in 1971, first attended the United States Naval Academy, later transferring to and completing his undergraduate degree at Baylor University, Magna Cum Laude, 1975. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychological and Interdisciplinary Studies at Boston University, where he studied under psychologist–philosopher Sigmund Koch and Elie Wiesel, Mellon Professor in the Humanities and Nobel Laureate. He joined the faculty at Texas State University in 1986, where he served as Professor of Psychology, Director of the Texas State in England program, and Director of the University’s Honors Program. As Honors Director, he acquired and secured funding for an honors building, secured a program endowment and externally funded scholarships, and envisioned and developed a series of year-long conversations, lectures and events, dubbed the “Common Experience.”

A Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer (Bucharest, Romania, 1996) and International Lecturer (Ifrane, Morocco, 1998), Chris has written books and numerous articles that cross both disciplinary and cultural boundaries. His books include: Religious Melancholy or Psychological Depression? (1985); Simone Weil: On Politics, Religion and Society (1998; coauthored); and Moral Cruelty: Ameaning and the Justification of Harm (2004; coauthored). His scholarly articles have been published in a wide range of academic journals, including Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, Journal of Loss and Trauma, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Humanity and Society, and Janus Head: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Chris is also the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Alumni Association Teaching Award of Honor, and designation as a Piper Professor (Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation).

Chris joined the Division of Undergraduate Studies in 2006. He and his wife Kathryn now reside in San Diego, at the foot of Cowles Mt., and their youngest daughter, Aristéa, attends the Waldorf School of San Diego.