About
About Donna Wilson, PhD
Psychologist, teacher educator, and international presenter Donna Wilson is author of more than 40 books and professional articles. Dr. Wilson served as tenure-track faculty and chair of education at the University of Detroit Mercy in the late 1990s where she led faculty to create a first-of-its-kind field-based cognitive program in Detroit. Beginning in 2000, she was a developer of the M.S. degree programs with a major in Brain-Based Teaching (with concentrations in Learning and Teaching or Reading and Literacy), Ed.S. degree with a major in Brain-Based Teaching (concentration in Teacher Leadership), and Ed.D. minor in Brain-Based Leadership with Nova Southeastern University. Research on the positive impact of these programs has been shared at peer-reviewed academic conferences such as American Educational Research Association, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and internationally at conferences at Cambridge University in England and Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Additionally, Dr. Wilson’s work in mind, brain, and education has been applied at institutions of higher education such as Florida Atlantic University, Purdue University, Carl Albert State College, University of Central Oklahoma, and Illinois State University. She serves as head of academic affairs for the Center for Innovative Education and Prevention (CIEP) and is president of BrainSMART, an independent research, development, and training group. Some of Dr. Wilson’s and Marcus Conyers’ most recent books include Smarter Teacher Leadership: Neuroscience and the Power of Purposeful Collaboration (Teachers College Press, 2016), Positively Smarter: Science and Strategies for Happiness, Achievement, and Well-being (Wiley, 2015), Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice (Teachers College Press, 2013), and Flourishing in the First Five Years: Connecting Implications from Mind, Brain, and Education Research to the Development of Young Children (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013).
Dr. Wilson has presented at most well-known national conferences in K-12 education, teacher education, and professional development, including ASCD, Learning and the Brain Conference at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Learning Forward, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, National Education Association (NEA), National Association of Elementary School Principals, Midwest Brain and Learning Conference, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Federal Education Programs Administrators, International Reading Association, National Staff Development Council, Council on Teacher Education (CTE), Fischler School of Education’s Global Leadership Institute, the National Association of School Psychologists, and many other national and state educational organizations. In addition, she has led professional development for more than 75,000 educators in 35 states. Dr. Wilson has also presented with policy makers and those who implement policy including administrators with the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes, Title I, and the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators.
Internationally, Dr. Wilson has presented at conferences including those held with the International Institute for the Enhancement of Learning Potential in Jerusalem, Israel, International Association of Cognitive Education and Psychology, and the International Educational Organization. Beginning in 2015, she began conducting a multi-year national trainer-of-trainers initiative across the country of Jamaica.
As a former teacher and leader at the community level, university faculty member, administrator, and school psychologist, Dr. Wilson has a passion for putting implications of research into practice so that all teachers have the most up-to-date knowledge necessary for implementing teaching strategies that will enable students to reach more of their unique learning potential. She is a popular blogger at Mind, Brain, Learning, and Teaching With Donna Wilson, PhD, and at Edutopia; has recently had articles published in Educational Leadership and Kappan; and will launch Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains: Metacognitive Strategies, Activities, and Lesson Ideas with ASCD in June 2016.