Dr. Daniel T. Willingham from the University of Virginia was presented with the “2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award” for his contributions to the field of Mind, Brain, and Education during the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA.
A groundbreaking researcher whose work lies at the intersection of education and cognitive neuroscience was awarded the tenth annual prize for “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience.” The award was established to honor individuals who represent excellence in bridging neuroscience and education and is funded by the Learning & the Brain® Foundation. The $2,500 award will be used to support translational efforts bridging scientific findings and classroom practice.
Dr. Willingham is being honored for his work on learning and memory and the applications of cognitive psychology to education. He has devoted much of his career leveraging scientific findings to address important educational issues. Dr. Willingham received his BA from Duke and his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University and is now a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine. Dr. Willingham is also the author of the following books Why Don’t Students Like School?, When Can You Trust the Experts?, Raising Kids Who Read, and The Reading Mind. His writing on education has appeared in fifteen languages.
David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University and the 2013 winner of the award, had praise for the new recipient. “Dr. Willingham is one of the nation’s most responsible and effective translators of psychological science to educational practice. He is adept at synthesizing seemingly divergent literatures and working across multiple levels-of-analysis to construct evidence-based, usable knowledge for educational practices. Dr. Willingham’s impact across the field, from the classroom to policy, is both important and influential.”
According to John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, the Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Daniel Willingham has been the leader in communicating concepts and advances in the science of learning to a broad community of educators and parents. He has created a bridge between the best of science and the most important challenges that teachers and students face in the classroom.”
Dr. Daniel presented the prize to Dr. Willingham at the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA on Sunday, November 12, held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The Learning & the Brain® Foundation wishes Dr. Willingham our heartiest congratulations.
