Affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago
Email: rpw@uic.edu

Biography

Roger P. Weissberg is NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning and LAS Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is also President and CEO of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an international organization committed to making evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning an essential part of preschool through high school education. For the past 30 years, Dr. Weissberg has trained scholars and practitioners about innovative ways to design, implement, and evaluate family, school, and community interventions.

Dr. Weissberg has authored about 200 publications focusing on preventive interventions with children and adolescents and has written curricula on school-based programs to promote social competence and prevent problem behaviors including drug use, high-risk sexual behaviors, and aggression. His Social Competence Promotion Program for Young Adolescents received a model program designation from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Some of his major published volumes include: Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators (1997), Enhancing Children’s Wellness (1997), Establishing Preventive Services (1997), Children and Youth:  Interdisciplinary Perspectives (1997), Promoting Positive Outcomes (1999), The Promotion of Wellness in Children and Adolescents (2000), Long-term Trends in the Well-being of Children and Youth (2003), a Special Issue of the American Psychologist on “Prevention for Children and Youth that Works” (2003), Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader’s Guide to Evidence-based Social and Emotional Learning Programs (2003), Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? (2004), and School-Family Partnerships for Children’s Success (2005).

Dr. Weissberg has been the President of the American Psychological Association’s Society for Community Research and Action. He co-chaired an American Psychological Association Task Force on “Prevention: Promoting Strength, Resilience, and Health in Young People.” He is a recipient of the William T. Grant Foundation’s five-year Faculty Scholars Award in Children’s Mental Health, the Connecticut Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Psychological Contribution in the Public Interest, and the National Mental Health Association’s Lela Rowland Prevention Award.  He was named a 1997-2000 University Scholar at the University of Illinois and also was a 2004-2005 UIC Great Cities Institute Scholar. Dr. Weissberg has received the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Contribution Award for Applications of Psychology to Education and Training, the Society for Community Research and Action’s Distinguished Contribution to Theory and Research Award, and the Society for Prevention Research’s Nan Tobler Award for Best Review of Prevention Research. He also received the "Daring Dozen" award from the George Lucas Educational Foundation for being 1 of 12 people who are reshaping the future of education.

Born in Newark , New Jersey , Dr. Weissberg graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University in 1974. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester in 1980.  He was the Research Director for the Primary Mental Health Project from 1980 to 1982. He was a professor in the Psychology Department at Yale University between 1982 and 1992 where he collaborated with the New Haven Public School System to establish New Haven’s kindergarten through grade 12 Social Development Project. Dr. Weissberg now lives in Wilmette, Illinois with his wife Stephanie Wright, a clinical psychologist, and two wonderful children, Elizabeth and Ted.

Articles

Weissberg, R. & Kumpfer, K. (Eds.). (2003). Prevention that works for children and youth [Special issue]. American Psychologist, 58, (6/7).