Palfrey Calls for Collaborative Leadership at Loeschner Lecture
November 24, 2025 2:32 PM
Learning and Leading with Purpose
Our students, faculty, and community are committed to improving lives and transforming society.
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Since 1926, our school has been a close-knit community of students, faculty, and staff committed to improving lives. See what makes us special.
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Ranked Education School, U.S. News & World Report
Faculty members elected to the National Academy of Education
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Undergraduates employed or completing graduate school or fellowships after graduation
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Service hours provided to local communities through the Civic Education Project
People Spotlight
SESP students, faculty, and alumni spark broad and meaningful change for individuals and systems alike. See how our people are making a difference in SESP and beyond, through their work and service.
Claudia Haase
Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Claudia Haase is a developmental psychologist who probes the mysteries behind emotions and relationships. She is faculty director of the Life-Span Development Lab and a co-founder and co-director of the newly formed Chicago Consortium on Longevity.
Nia Coffey
Wildcat Hall of Famer
Alumna Nia Coffey (BS17) was inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024. Coffey, a small forward who has been with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream since 2022, was the fifth overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft, the highest of any Northwestern basketball player in school history.
Uri Wilensky
The Lorraine H. Morton Professor of Learning Sciences, Computer Science and Complex Systems
Wilensky is the father of a worldwide movement to harness the power of computer modeling and simulations and foster the mindset known as “computational thinking.” His programmable NetLogo modeling environment has helped hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and researchers tackle complex ideas.
Tabitha Bonilla
Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Bonilla is a political scientist who studies how communication influences public support for policies. Her work centers on electoral psychology but also investigates public opinion in other areas, including gun control, human trafficking, and immigration.
Daphne Chan
Class of 2028, Learning and Organizational Change, Wildcat Fencing Team
Chan reached the round of 16 in the women’s foil individual event in her Olympic debut in Paris 2024.
David Rapp
Walter Dill Scott Professor of Psychology and Learning Sciences | Director of Undergraduate Education
Rapp studies language and memory, including the effects of misinformation on thoughts, group behavior, and policy decisions.
EL Da' Sheon Nix
Director of Evanston Community Relations
Alumnus EL Da' Sheon Nix is committed to fostering connections, empowering youth, and driving meaningful change.
Jen Munson
Associate Professor of Learning Sciences
Jen Munson’s project, Multiplicity Lab, prides itself on giving students and teachers “math worth doing” and infuses teaching with learning sciences and math education. The name comes from its expansive approach: Doing math involves multiple ideas, voices, and strategies. Math also needs different ways of seeing, thinking and being.
Jacob Schmidt
Alumnus | Executive Director of TrueNU
Schmidt, who earned his bachelor's and master's at SESP, helps connect local charities with community-minded scholar-athletes who benefit via name, image, and likeness partnerships .
Brian Reiser
Orrington Lunt Professor of Learning Sciences
Reiser explores how to make science learning more meaningful in K-12 classrooms as students investigate their own questions. His Next Generations Science Storylines initiative helps bring relevant science to life.
Bill Healy
SESP and Medill Alumnus | Journalist with the Invisible Institute
An award-winning podcast producer, Healy co-created “You Didn’t See Nothin,” which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting and a Peabody Award. Healy has worked on stories for NPR, the BBC and “This American Life,” and spent years editing StoryCorps for Chicago’s public radio station, WBEZ. His most recent work is "Division Street Revisited."
Making an Impact
At SESP, we partner with the community to maximize the impact of our research findings. These collaborations allow us to test new ideas, develop better practices, and share discoveries to benefit as many people as possible.
Morton Schapiro Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools
The Morton Schapiro Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools enhances access and successful matriculation for academically motivated students. Thanks to the Academy, these talented individuals are on track to attend top-tier colleges and universities. To date, graduates have enrolled in more than 115 institutions, including Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
STEAMbassadors
STEAMbassadors trains college-bound 18 to 24-year-olds from under-resourced communities to work with youth in neighborhoods lacking learning opportunities and role models in computer science, engineering, and the arts. They are assigned to local organizations partnering with the Chicago Department of Family Support Services in parks, libraries, and schools to create an out-of-school learning ecosystem across the city.
Northwestern-Evanston Township High School (ETHS) Partnership Office
The Northwestern/ETHS Partnership Office is part of the Good Neighbor, Great University Initiative, supported by Neighborhood and Community Relations and the Office of Community Education Partnerships in the School of Education and Social Policy. Northwestern has more than 100 significant partnerships with Evanston Township High School. This relationship spans disciplines, encompassing academics, athletics, health and wellness, identity and social consciousness, college and career education, cultural events, mentoring, the arts, and community engagement.
Featured News
MacArthur's John Palfrey Headlines Loeschner Lecture
John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is the featured speaker for the 2025 Ray and Nancy Loeschner Lecture Series on Leadership on Nov. 19 at Northwestern University.
November 24, 2025 6:06 PM
News and Events
David Rapp on Why Misinformation Sticks
November 21, 2025 3:57 PM
After we take in information — whether true or not — it’s nearly impossible to avoid using it, Northwestern University psychologist David Rapp explained during the “Science of Reading: The Podcast.”
New Guidance Aims to Strengthen Education Research
November 19, 2025 8:24 AM
A new Spencer Foundation report calls for a fresh approach to graduate education to better prepares researchers to improve schools and communities.
Duval-Diop Joins New Master’s Program
November 18, 2025 12:42 PM
Dominique Duval-Diop has joined the faculty for the School of Education and Social Policy's Master’s in Technology, People, and Policy program at Northwestern.
Northwestern Expands STEM Partnership with Baxter Foundation
November 7, 2025 7:17 AM
Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy will continue its longstanding partnership with The Baxter Foundation to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education across the Chicagoland area.
Events
Nov
26
2025
University offices close at 5:00 pm for Thanksgiving break
All day
University offices close at 5:00 pm for Thanksgiving break
Dec
1
2025
Dec
2
2025
Combined Bachelor's-MOD Degree Information Session
12:30 PM Annenberg Hall, 2120 Campus Drive
Join faculty members and student affairs staff for a hybrid information session. During this meeting, we will share info...
Dec
3
2025
Leading Equity and Inclusion in Organizations Information Session
12:00 PM
Join Northwestern community members and student affairs staff for a virtual information session. During this information...
Dec
4
2025
MS in Education and Social Policy Program Build App Information Session
12:00 PM
Attend a livestreamed information session about the Master of Science in Education and Social Policy Program. Presentati...
Dec
10
2025
MS in Learning and Organizational Change Information Session
12:00 PM
Join MSLOC community members and student affairs staff for a virtual information session. During this information sessio...