Faculty Profile

Mícheál Roe

​Mícheál D. Roe

Professor Emeritus of Psychology

Email: mroe@spu.edu


Education: BA, Revelle College, University of California San Diego, 1973; MEd, University of Washington, 1975; PhD, University of Washington, 1981. At SPU 1988-2019. Emeritus since 2019.

Dr. ​Mícheál Roe is a developmental psychologist with anthropological training. He has particular interests in the interface of life span human development and social justice concerns worldwide. A past SPU Professor of the Year, his teaching areas have been primarily in developmental and research psychology (e.g., child development, adulthood, statistics, research methods).

He came to SPU after teaching at Bethel College (now Bethel University) in St. Paul for 11 years. While at SPU, he served as the Psychology Department chair for 16 years and as the dean of the School of Psychology, Family, and Community for 12 years. During this period, he also enjoyed a research association with the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland for more than two decades. He received emeritus status in 2019.

Dr. Roe is a husband, father, and grandfather in a multi-generational, multi-cultural, and blended family. He identifies with the “Peace Church” tradition and has been an active member of Seattle Mennonite Church since the late 1980s. 


​Selected publications

Roe, M.D., Barrett, M., Bar-Tal, D, Bretherton, D., Dawes, A., Gallagher, E., Giles, M.L., Hakvoort, I., Hamber, B., Moeschberger, S.L., Montiel, C.J., Muldoon, O.T., Salomon, G., Trew, K., & Wessells, M. (2014). Professor Ed Cairns: A personal and professional biography. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 20(1), 3–12.

Roe, M.D., Schaafsma, T., & Gutierrez, J. (2009). Meanings, functions, maintenance and reproduction of present-day Scotch-Irish social identities: The role of symbolic ethnicity. Journal of Scotch-Irish Studies, 3(1), 1–28.

Roe, M. (2007). Inter-group forgiveness in settings of political violence: Complexities, ambiguities, and potentialities. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 13(1), 3–9.

Roe, M.D. (2003). Cowlitz Indian ethnic identity, social memories, and 150 years of conflict with the United States government. In E. Cairns & M. D. Roe (eds.), The Role of memory in ethnic conflict (pp. 55–74). London: Palgrave/MacMillan.

Roe, M.D. (2002). Contemporary Catholic and Protestant Irish America: Social Identities, Forgiveness, and Attitudes toward The Troubles of Northern Ireland. Eire-Ireland, 37(1 & 2), 153–174.

Please view Dr. Roe’s CV (PDF) for additional publications.