Paul McKee
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring
Ph.D. Candidate, Psychology & Neuroscience
Bio
Paul McKee is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, expected to earn his doctorate in 2026. McKee is also currently working toward an Executive Master in Business Administration in the Fuqua School of Business, expected in 2027. He earned his M.S. in Interdisciplinary Data Science at Duke in 2024, and his B.S. in Psychology: Behavioral Neuroscience at Southern Connecticut State University in 2021.
For McKee, mentoring is a relationship built through trust and sustained investment. McKee’s mentorship roles have benefited undergraduate students, graduate students, post-baccalaureate trainees, and high school students across multiple programs at Duke and beyond.
Mentees describe McKee as both highly knowledgeable and deeply accessible. He guides students through the full research process, from study design and analysis to writing and presentation, while encouraging independence and intellectual confidence. His mentoring emphasizes skill development alongside personal and professional growth.
McKee is a highly-cited academic researcher, with more than 320 citations, and he has earned significant funding through grants and fellowships to fund his research. His research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying moral judgments and decision making, social decision making, implicit bias, motivation, and other higher cognitive functions.
On Mentoring
What does a successful mentoring relationship look like? How do you build such a relationship?
A successful mentoring relationship is one in which everyone involved is better for having been part of it. How such relationships form varies. Some develop quickly, some involve friction, and some deepen over time, but they share a common core. Just as the grass is green where you choose to water it, so too are strong relationships built. Strong mentoring relationships are built intentionally. They require sustained investment, mutual respect, empathy, and clear communication. They also rely on trust: an understanding that not everything will go as planned, but that challenges will be approached collaboratively and in good faith. Like any relationship worth having, successful mentoring grows where consistent attention and care are given.
What is something you have done as a mentor that you are really proud of?
I am most proud when I help a mentee move closer to their goals and see their own potential clearly. Above all, I am proud of the people I have mentored for having the courage to pursue what matters to them. What we accomplish together looks different for everyone: a first research project, a first conference presentation, a publication, or preparing competitive applications for graduate, professional, or fellowship programs. Outcomes vary, but my pride does not. What matters most is the effort, growth, and trust they bring to the process. Being entrusted with that journey is a privilege I take seriously.
How do graduate students benefit from serving as mentors?
Graduate students benefit from mentoring in ways that extend far beyond skill development. There is a deep fulfillment that comes from contributing to someone else’s growth and success. At the same time, mentoring strengthens core capacities like clear communication, teaching, leadership, and accountability. These skills carry across academic, professional, and personal contexts. Most importantly, mentoring cultivates a sense of responsibility to others. I believe we have a moral obligation to not just seek opportunities to mentor, but to invest fully in each person we mentor, because the impact we have on others will long outlast any single project, publication, or even a career's worth of science. I'm not sure there is any other aspect of graduate training (or life) that is as enduring or meaningful.
In Others’ Words
Tributes from mentees and colleagues
“Paul also models organization, accountability, and genuine investment in his mentees’ success. Despite his demanding schedule and wide range of projects, he sets fair expectations, provides the tools needed to meet them, and communicates clearly about timelines and goals. He strikes an ideal balance, pushing me to grow while ensuring I never feel overwhelmed or unsupported. His consistency has been especially impactful: he checks in regularly, follows up on my progress, and responds quickly and thoroughly to questions.”
“He has been a mentor, advocate, and trusted guide throughout my undergraduate experience, and his support has been central to my growth as a researcher.”
The Graduate School is pleased to award the Centennial Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education to the Bridge-to-the-Ph.D. Fellowship Program in the Department of Classical Studies, with special recognition to the program leaders, Lauren Donovan Ginsberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Classical Studies and Theater Studies and fellowship program advisor, and Joshua D. Sosin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Classical Studies and graduate program director.
Bridge Fellows are selected by the faculty of Classical Studies to spend a fully-funded year in the department, including tuition and Ph.D.-level stipend, while working intensively on language and research training required for graduate humanities work in the field.
Constructing the Bridge
The bridge program addresses a long-standing concern for incoming humanities Ph.D. students in specialties which often require fluency in at least one other language, as well as skills-based training for field research. Few options exist to support prospective students who lack this education or experience, creating a significant barrier to entry to humanities Ph.D. programs.
Using an established model often implemented in STEM fields, the Bridge-to-the-Ph.D. fellowship program creates a tailored academic pathway through a year of intensive, graduate-level language training, a 12-month funding package, and structured mentoring to ensure fellows are well-equipped to begin their classical studies program.
Peiyao Guo, a current Bridge-to-the-Ph.D. fellow, shares that for him, the program made the impossible, possible.
“Our field, Classics, has long faced significant structural barriers to entry,” says Guo. “Success has traditionally required years of Latin and Greek training, often only accessible through well-funded private high schools or resource-rich undergraduate institutions. This pipeline problem systematically excludes talented and passionate students from underrepresented, low-income, and first-generation backgrounds. The Duke Classical Studies department has done more than just acknowledge this problem, it has created an ambitious, fully-funded, and deeply compassionate solution.”
One Fellowship Creates Another
The new fellowship program was born from yet another: The Graduate Faculty Fellowship implemented by The Graduate School 2023. Graduate Faculty Fellows serve on The Graduate School leadership team and are offered protected time to invest in administrative and research projects that explore improvements to graduate education at Duke.
Ginsberg, who served as the first Graduate Faculty Fellow, explored the efficacy of a humanities bridge program as her capstone project. Upon Ginsberg’s completion of the fellowship, the idea had become a reality with financial support from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and two fellows already participating in the program.
Notably, the Bridge program seeks to fully integrate fellows into the culture and training of the Classical Studies department, rather than treating them as “pre-students.” The goal and intention, of course, is that fellows will go on to pursue a Ph.D. in the department upon completion of the fellowship.
The initial success of the program shows promise in expanding to other departments, with Philosophy and Religious Studies onboard.