Alexandra Rush

Alexandra Rush, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Empire State University. Her research explores how individuals and families create meaningful lives after the traumatic effects of war, with a focus on intergenerational transmission of trauma, resilience, and features of posttraumatic growth. She also investigates youth purpose and identity development through mixed methods and qualitative approaches, including phenomenology.

She earned her doctorate in Family Science and Human Development from Montclair State University, after beginning her academic journey at Douglass College of Rutgers University with a psychology major. She pursued graduate training at Long Island University before focusing her doctoral research on the intergenerational effects of war trauma. Her scholarship highlights how resilience and meaning-making are transmitted across generations, offering new insights into family adaptation and sense of purpose.