Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education, elected to the National Academy of Education

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, director of the the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE) and Fahmy and Donna Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology, has been elected to the National Academy of Education, the organization announced on Friday, March 10.

The mission of the National Academy is to advance high-quality research that improves education policy and practice. Consisting of U.S. members and international associates, members of the academy are selected based on their portfolio of education-related research; Immordino-Yang joins 18 new members in this year’s class.

“This is among the most prestigious honors for an education researcher,” said USC Rossier Dean Pedro A. Noguera. “Mary Helen’s remarkable academic career focuses on the psychology of education and development of learning. This recognition is a well-deserved honor.”

A professor of education at the USC Rossier School of Education, Immordino-Yang studies the psychological and neurobiological bases of social emotion, self-awareness and culture and their implications for learning, development and schools. In addition, she is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the Brain and Creativity Institute and faculty member at the Neuroscience Graduate Program at USC.

“I am grateful to the National Academy members and my colleagues,” said Immordino-Yang. “This represents a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with some of the most respected thinkers in the field, and to contribute to much-needed innovations in what we value and how we understand and support schools and schooling in the modern era.”

Immordino-Yang joins Noguera among current USC Rossier faculty in the National Academy. Previous faculty named to the academy include Ron Avi Astor, Estela Mara Bensimon, Shaun R. Harper, Robert Rueda, Gale Sinatra and William G. Tierney.