Penelope L. Peterson
Faculty Profile
![Penelope L. Peterson](https://sites.northwestern.edu/penelopepeterson/files/2019/09/penelope-peterson.jpg)
Professor Emeritus, School of Education and Social Policy
Eleanor R. Baldwin Professor , Education
Former Dean , School of Education and Social Policy
Former Professor, Human Development and Social Policy
Former Professor, Learning Sciences
Biography
Penelope L. Peterson is Eleanor R. Baldwin Professor and former Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) at Northwestern University. Prior to her appointment as Dean in September 1997, she served as University Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State University and Sears-Bascom Professor of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her BS degree in psychology and philosophy from Iowa State University and her MA and PhD from Stanford University. Under Peterson’s leadership, SESP has moved to being ranked seventh among the top education schools nationally by U.S. News and World Report. Despite its small size, SESP has achieved numerous distinctions both on campus and nationally. SESP faculty members have gone from bringing in a total of approximately $400,000 of external research funding to more than $700,000 of external funding per SESP faculty member. A past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Peterson is also a member of the National Academy of Education; a fellow of AERA, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society; and a member of the Advisory Board of the Adler Planetarium.
Research Interests
Learning and teaching in schools and classrooms, particularly in literacy and mathematics; student and teacher learning in reform contexts; relations among educational research, policy and practice.
Education
Year | Degree | Institution |
1976 | MA, Psychological Studies in Education | Stanford University |
1976 | PhD, Psychological Studies in Education | Stanford University |
1971 | BS, Psychology and Philosophy | Iowa State University |
Selected Publications
Neumann, A., Pallas, A. M., & Peterson, P. L. (2008). Introduction to the special issue on the campus experience of the Spencer Foundation’s Research Training Grant Program. Teachers College Record: 110(4), 1357-1359.
Neumann, A., Pallas, A. M., & Peterson, P. L. (2008). Exploring the investment: four universities’ experiences with the Spencer Foundation’s Research Training Grant Program; A retrospective. Teachers College Record: 110(4) 1477 – 1503.