By Amanda Lenox

Dr. Megan Gliniecki is a fascinating professor that brings compassion and empathy to her courses.

Professor Gliniecki received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Michigan. She began to work on her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Texas, but then took time off to heal from a family tragedy that related to a family member’s mental illness. It was due to this tragedy that Professor Gliniecki switched her career course. She began volunteering at a mental hospital to learn more about mental illness.

“I felt very strongly about helping people who didn’t have any resources; people who didn’t have money, or family support, or education to fall back on. Those are the people that you see in state mental facilities,” Gliniecki said.

She then went back to school and took undergraduate psychology classes at UT and received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School.

Dr. Gliniecki had already decided from her very first organic chemistry class, her first semester of college, that she wanted to become a professor.

“There is no more exciting environment than a college campus, because there is a spirit of learning and excitement,” she said. “So if I can’t be a student, I want to have a reason to stay on a college campus forever.”

Professor Gliniecki followed her husband, a physician in the Navy, out to California and she applied and got hired at Cal State San Marcos. She loves teaching at CSUSM because she finds the students here to be very genuine and caring.

In teaching psychology, she loves that it is an opportunity to get people excited about helping others.

“There’s this very human side of psychology, where there is a focus on understanding not just people who are mentally ill but understanding the people around us that we meet everyday,” Gliniecki said.

In developing an understanding, she believes students will develop a sense of compassion. She hopes that when students take her classes that they learn we are here to care for each other.

Professor Gliniecki usually teaches Abnormal Psychology (PSYCH 336), Psychology of Personality (PSYCH 334) and Survey of Clinical Psychology (PSYCH 340).