Biography:
Dr. Mary ET Boyle has been fascinated about the nature of the mind her entire life. It is no wonder that she has spent the past thirty years either working, researching, studying or teaching about the brain! When looking back on her life, there are two things that define her personality – her love of talking and her passion to teach. Fueled by her desire to study languages (as a result of growing up overseas) and computer science, she worked in artificial intelligence and natural language research for five years after graduating from Georgetown
University. Aspiring to return to the academic arena, she completed her MA in
Computational Linguistics from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and her
Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Boyle has been teaching courses in
Neuroscience and Computer Science in the
Department of Cognitive Science for the past twelve years. Her “Minds and Brains” class, one of the most popular classes on campus, tackles timely issues on addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, body dysmorphic disorders, learning and memory, and the philosophy of the mind.
Dr. Boyle’s clear, dynamic, and engaging lecture style has made her a favorite speaker around the country as she teaches about the aging brain, adolescent brain, effects of stress on the brain, and metabolic brain disorders.