Dr. Janet Polivy - Early Academics

Janet was a keen high school student. Deeply immersed in the “American high school experience,” she also kept on top of her studies. By excelling even in extra courses, Janet was valedictorian and was on excellent footing entering Jackson University in 1968. Initially interested in archaeology and not at all interested in psychology, the excellent student spent her first year “floundering.”

Janet’s interest in psychology was sparked by elements of her first year psychology class and grew the next year when she spent time in Dr. Ernest Hartmann’s lab, a psychiatrist who studied sleep and dreaming. “Playing with the rats” filled Janet with excitement and turned her on to psychological research. She graduated in only three years with a degree in psychology and entered the graduate program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.