Mark Hager

Mark J. Hager, PhD, is a psychological and educational consultant specializing in mentoring relationships, curriculum design, and educational assessment. His work bridges research, practice, and institutional change, with a longstanding focus on professional socialization, cultural sensitivity, and developmental networks. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for many years, most recently helping guide coping and adjustment strategies for early career clinician scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A frequent speaker at national and international venues—including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Educational Research Association, the UNM Mentoring Institute, Oxford University, and the UK Council for Graduate Education—Dr. Hager advises on leadership, mentoring, cultural competence, and systemic approaches to student well-being and success.
He earned graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of Michigan, where he co-authored the widely used Rackham Graduate School Handbooks on mentoring relationships in a diverse university. His research examines social-psychological influences on professional development, with a focus on mentoring and identity across higher and post-graduate education.
Dr. Hager is a faculty member in the MS in Clinical Psychology program at Notre Dame de Namur University. He is Professor Emeritus and former director of Psychology at Menlo College where he taught for many years.