Penelope Peterson

Who is Penelope Peterson?

Penelope L. Peterson is an American educational psychologist and academic administrator. Peterson was named Dean of Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy in September 1997 and previously served as University Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State University and Sears-Bascom Professor of Education at University of Wisconsin–Madison. She also served as president of the American Education Research Association.

Peterson received was one of the first females to receive her bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy from Iowa State University in 1971, and she received a Ph.D. in psychological studies in education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 1976. She remains Eleanor R. Baldwin Professor of Education. Peterson's books include Restructuring in the Classroom: Teaching, Learning, and School Organization and Learning from Our Lives: Women, Research, and Autobiography in Education.

Peterson's areas of expertise include learning and teaching in schools and classrooms, particularly in literacy and mathematics; student and teacher learning in reform contexts; and relations among educational research, policy and practice.