Andrew Meltzoff elected to National Academy of Education
Andrew Meltzoff, professor of psychology at the UW and co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, has been elected to the National Academy of Education. Members are selected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership related to education.
Members serve on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education. They also engage in the Academy’s professional development fellowship programs.
Meltzoff is a highly lauded researcher and internationally renowned expert on infant and child development. His research reaches beyond the bounds of psychology and investigates how role models and cultural stereotypes of different kinds impact child development, with implications for education.
“Adults have a drive to teach others, and young children have a drive to learn,” Meltzoff said. “Yet education in schools often misfires. Scientific advances in psychological and brain science should help us do a better job. Our children can’t wait, and our future literally depends on how well we feed, foster and embolden our children’s natural proclivity to learn. Social justice and equity issues can and should be addressed through education.”
Meltzoff’s election to the National Academy of Education adds to his long list of distinctions, including the 2020 William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science, given to honor a lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology.