DAVID LEE STRAYER portrait
  • Director, Center for the Prevention of Distracted Driving
  • Adjunct Professor, Educational Psychology
  • Professor, Psychology Department

Professional Service

  • AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Organized and hosted the International Forum on Impact of Vehicle Technologies and Automation on Users held at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (November 7-8, 2017) in conjunction with the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. 11/07/2017 - 11/08/2017
  • White House. Invited participant at the White House Roundtable on The Health Benefits of the Outdoors, held in Washington DC (October 20, 2016). 10/20/2016 - present
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Invited participant at the National Highway Traffic Safety on Cognitive Distractions: What Were You Thinking? held in Washington DC (May 12, 2015). 05/12/2015 - 05/12/2015
  • National Transportation Safety Board. Invited participant at the National Transportation Safety Board Roundtable on Disconnecting from Deadly Distractions held in Washington DC (March 31, 2015). 03/31/2015 - 03/31/2015
  • Frontiers of Cognition. Consulting Editor. 01/01/2010 - present

Internal Service

  • Executive Committee. Member, 07/2020 - 12/2021. Department service.
  • CNS Area Coordinator. 07/2019 - present. Department service.
  • Member, Personnel Committee. 07/2019 - present. Department service.
  • Member, Personnel Committee. 07/2017 - 06/2018. Department service.
  • Chair, College RPT Committee. 07/2017 - 06/2018. College service.
  • Graduate Committee. Member, 07/2016 - 06/2017. Department service.
  • Development and Public Outreach Committee. Chair, 07/01/2016 - 06/30/2017. Department service.
  • RPT Committee. Member, 07/2015 - 06/2017. College service.
  • Executive Committee. Member, 07/2015 - 06/2016. Department service.
  • Undergraduate Committee. Chair, 07/01/2013 - 06/2015. Department service.
  • Personnel Committee. Member, 07/01/2012 - 06/30/2013. Department service.
  • Curriculum Committee. Member, 07/2010 - 12/2010. College service.

Community Partnership

  • Member of the Utah Road Usage Charge Advisory Committee (reporting to the Utah Department of Transportation in response to Utah S.B. 136, (2018-2019). 01/2018 - present

Honors & Awards

  • Titan of HFES. HFES, 01/2023
  • SHIFT (Shaping How we Invest for Tomorrow) award for Research on Nature and Cognitive Restoration. The Center for Jackson Hole, 10/2019
  • Green Cross Safety Research Advocate Award finalist. National Safety Council, 01/2018
  • John R. Park Professor of Psychology. University of Utah, 01/2018
  • Celebrate U Top Researcher Honoree. University of Utah, 01/2017
  • John R. Park Professor of Psychology. University of Utah, 01/2017
  • Jerome Ely Human Factors Article award for best article in the 2015 volume of Human Factors. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 10/15/2016
  • Wilderness Stewardship Research Award. US Forest Service, 01/2016
  • Fellow. Association for Psychological Sciences, 01/2012
  • Interdisciplinary Teaching Grand Award (The Psychology of Traffic), 2011 (for Fall, 2012). 01/2011
  • Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award. University of Utah, 2010
  • Finalist, Superior Teaching Award. College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 01/2010
  • Finalist, Superior Teaching Award. College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 2007
  • Finalist, Superior Teaching Award. College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 2006
  • 100 Top Science Stories. Discover Magazine, 2005
  • John Park Teaching Fellowship. 2004
  • 100 Top Science Stories. Discover Magazine, 2003
  • Superior Research Award. College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 2002
  • John Park Teaching Fellowship. John Park, 1997
  • Finalist, Superior Research Award (Jr. Award). College of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 1995
  • Research Paper Award. Sigma Xi, 1988
  • Paul D. Doolen Graduate Scholar for the Study of Aging. 1987
  • Research Fellowhip, 1985-1987. NASA/AMES, 1985
  • Outstanding Academic Student. Eastern Washington University, 1982
  • Debra White Memorial Scholarship for academic achievement. 1979

In the Media

  • AAA estimates that our research has had 1.1 Billion media impressions between 2013 and 2018. This includes over 100 million media hits in our November media release. 03/10/2018.
  • Our researchers been cited more than any other research on campus (Over 1 Billion Media Hits worldwide in the last decade). These media hits have been independently verified by AAA as part of their media outreach and assessment program. 10/2015.
  • I was profiled in A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel. Mr. Richtel won the Pulitzer Prize for the New York Times in 2010, in part, by the 10-part front-page series describing the work from my lab on driver distraction. In September, Mr. Richtel and I gave a joint presentation at Weber State University on the book and topic. 09/01/2015.