Craig A. Anderson is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University, renowned for his pioneering work in social and personality psychology, particularly on aggression and violence. He received his B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Butler University in 1976, M.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978 (advisor: Lee Ross), and Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1980 (advisor: J. Merrill Carlsmith). Anderson's career trajectory includes serving as Assistant Professor (1980-1985) and Associate Professor (1985-1988) at Rice University, Visiting Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University (1984-1985), Full Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 1992, and joining Iowa State University in 1999 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, a role he held until 2005. In 2005, he was honored with Iowa State University's highest faculty distinction as Distinguished Professor and founded the Center for the Study of Violence in 2007. He has held significant leadership positions, including President of the International Society for Research on Aggression (2010-2012), President of the Society of Southwestern Social Psychologists (1986-1987), and service on executive councils and graduate program directorships at previous institutions.

Anderson's primary research specializations encompass the General Aggression Model integrating affective and instrumental aggression, effects of violent media including video games on aggressive behavior, climate change influences on human aggression and violence, aggressive personality components, and attribution processes related to hostility biases. Notable publications include Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy (2007, Oxford University Press), Game On! Sensible Answers about Video Games and Media Violence (2020), and Climate Change and Human Behavior: Impacts of a Rapidly Changing Climate on Human Aggression and Violence (2022, Cambridge University Press). His scholarly impact is evident in numerous awards, such as the Iowa State University Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research (2004), American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientist Lecturer (2010), Kurt Lewin Award (2017), Society for Personality and Social Psychology Distinguished Scholar Award (2018), APA Division 46 Lifetime Contributions to Media Psychology Award (2021), and International Society for Research on Aggression Lifetime Fellow Award (2024). A Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, APA Division 8, and others, Anderson ranks among the most highly cited scholars in social psychology textbooks and literature, shaping policy statements from the APA, American Academy of Pediatrics, and ISRA on media violence and youth aggression.

Professional Email: caa@iastate.edu