Meet Taylor Newton

I was born and raised in central Louisiana and attended graduate school in Colorado where I earned my doctorate in social psychology and met my husband. When our son was three and our daughter was 3 months old, we moved to Hickory where I accepted a position at Lenoir-Rhyne University. This will be my 10th year at LR and I was recently promoted to full professor of psychology.

I am also an academic affiliate of the Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children of Save the Children International. In this role, I am part of a team working to develop and rigorously test behavioral interventions to reduce hazardous child labor on cocoa farms, recently in Indonesia and currently in Côte d’Ivoire. This work has given me hands-on experience using research to design real-world solutions to complex social challenges—experience that would help me bring thoughtful, evidence-informed decision-making to the Hickory City Council. If you’d like to know more about this part of my work and service, you can see me teaching a guest lecture in June 2025 to Duke graduate students here.

That commitment to evidence and humility in the face of complexity also shows up in my teaching. Students in my classroom learn about the Dunning-Kruger Effect (not Freddy—that’s a different one!). It refers to our tendency to overestimate our knowledge or abilities when we actually know very little about a subject. The key insight is that it takes a certain level of understanding to recognize what we don’t know.

Because I’m aware of this bias, I try to approach both my work and relationships with a willingness to listen and curiosity. I ask a lot of questions when I don’t understand something, and I do my best to see things from multiple perspectives. I'm not perfect, but I actively work to check my own assumptions. I believe this mindset would be a real asset while serving on Hickory City Council.

My husband is a cybersecurity expert (and author of a recent book!) and works from home here in Hickory. We are the proud parents of an Oakwood Blue Jay and a Northview Hawk. In the summer, you'll find us rooting for the Crawdads or hanging around the pool at the Y and in the winter, you'll find us praying for at least one good snow so that we can sled down the hill up the street. Year-round, we love taking advantage of the amazing arts and culture our city has to offer.