Matt Motyl earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2014. Now, Matt is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Executive Director of Civil Politics, and the Research Director of OpenMind. He is a social psychologist who studies what makes communicating with others who hold different moral, political, or religious views so difficult, and what can be done to improve the quality of intergroup communication. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles in some of the top journals including Science, Journal for Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychological and Personality Science, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Perspectives on Psychological Science. He currently serves on 5 editorial boards, including those of the Journal for Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychological and Personality Science, and Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. He was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science for his “innovative work [that] has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their [his] continued contributions.” His research has been featured in many popular media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Mother Jones, Science, Nature, and on CBS, BBC World, and NPR.