LeGrand Dudley
Studying how people and autonomous systems can share our roads more safely — with a focus on trust calibration, human-AV communication, and behavioral adaptation to driving automation at Rice University’s HAC Lab.
At the frontier of
human-automation science
My work sits at the intersection of cognitive psychology, human factors engineering, and autonomous systems — asking how we make the automated future safer and more equitable for everyone on the road.
AV–Road User Communication
Designing and evaluating external HMI systems that allow AVs to communicate intent to pedestrians and other road users at intersections — making automation legible to everyone.
Trust Calibration in Automation
Building empirical models to help users form appropriate, calibrated trust in driving automation — preventing dangerous over-reliance and costly disuse of beneficial technology.
Behavioral Adaptation to AVs
Examining how exposure to AV technology changes human driving behavior and risk tolerance — extending his undergraduate honors thesis awarded Distinction in Research & Creative Works.
Verified publications
2026
Human-Centered AI in Cybersecurity
Chen, J., Garcia, K. R., Zhang, Y., Dudley, L. E., & Warren, A. D.
In W. Xu (Ed.), Handbook of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Springer.
2023
Drivers' Responses to Stopped and Slowed Lead Vehicles During Nighttime
Chen, J., Garcia, K. R., Zhang, Y., Dudley, L. E., & Warren, A. D.
In W. Xu (Ed.), Handbook of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Springer.
Psychologist building afer futures with automation
LeGrand is a second-year PhD student in Human Factors/HCI at Rice University’s HAC Lab, advised by Dr. Jing Chen. He earned his B.A. in Psychology with departmental honors from Rice, where he also minored in Data Science.
An NSF GRFP Fellow and STaRT@Rice Scholar, LeGrand brings rigorous experimental methods and deep curiosity about human cognition to the challenge of making autonomous transportation work for real people — on real roads.
2024
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP)
National Science Foundation — 3-year fellowship funding doctoral research at Rice University
2024
Dean's Prize
Rice University Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies — recognizing outstanding academic promise as an incoming PhD student
2024
STaRT@Rice Scholarship
Competitive scholarship to attend Rice’s advanced statistical methods training program
2023
William C. Howell Award
Rice University — for outstanding Human Factors research accomplishments at Rice and ODU NSF REU
2023
NSF REU Fellowship
Old Dominion University — Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences & Transportation Issues