Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School
Don Rojas is a professor in the Department Psychology and a member of the Cellular, Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Program at Colorado State University. He served as chair of the Department of Psychology for over a decade prior to taking on the current interim role with the Graduate School.
A three-time CSU alumnus, Dr. Rojas earned his B.S. and M.S. from CSU before completing his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1995. He then completed postdoctoral training in developmental cognitive neuroscience and functional neuroimaging at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He subsequently held faculty and research leadership appointments for nearly two decades at Anschutz before returning to CSU.
His scholarship centers on the application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and magnetic resonance-based neuroimaging (MRI and MR spectroscopy) to questions of brain network organization, neural oscillations, and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. An emerging focus of his recent work at CSU concerns how skin and hair phenotype factors affect the validity of neuroimaging signals — research with direct implications for equitable and inclusive scientific practice. While at CSU, Dr. Rojas has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses related to his expertise in developmental cognitive neuroscience and mentored students at multiple stages of their academic careers.
In his role as interim vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Rojas is committed to advancing the quality, accessibility, and visibility of the graduate education mission at CSU while supporting graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at the early stages of their academic and professional development.