Search

Through my life and research experiences, I've become fascinated with the question: how do we tap into our full potential? Specifically, I investigate "learning readiness", or the social, cognitive and neural features that predict academic motivation and learning success. I believe these clues will reveal the depths of an individual's potential to learn. And tracking the development of these features, as well as how they vary over time, across individuals from diverse backgrounds, and across

Wendy M. Williams is a Professor in the Department of Human Development at Cornell University, where she studies the development, assessment, training, and societal implications of intelligence and cognitive performance in real-world contexts. She holds Ph.D. and Master's degrees in psychology from Yale University, a Master's in physical anthropology from Yale, and a B.A. in English and biology from Columbia University, awarded cum laude with special distinction. In the fall of 2009, Williams founded (and

My research and teaching are interwoven so that the two activities reinforce each other and so that, to the greatest extent possible, the latest research findings are integrated into the courses I teach. Throughout my career, my research and teaching have revolved around a single broad theme: the scientific study of human cognition. I have concentrated most extensively on the development of cognitive processes in normal and atypical children, but I have also published considerable research

Felix Thoemmes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. He is also a member of the graduate field of Statistics. Before he came to Cornell, he was a Professor at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, in the Center for Educational Science and Psychology, and an Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University.

The nutritional concerns of women, infants, and children and developing effective interventions to address these concerns have been the focus of my scholarly work. Our research group used e- and m-health communications technologies to help pregnant and postpartum women develop and maintain behaviors that promote healthy body weights, which involved faculty and students in the Communications Department, as well as, the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell and faculty collaborators at the University of Rochester Medical Center.  Data analysis determined the

Sarah Espinel received her Ph.D. in Community Psychology and Gender & Sexuality Studies with a Concentration in Quantitative Statistics & Analyses from the Departments of Psychology and Women, Gender, & Sexuality at the University of Virginia and joined the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) in the College of Human Ecology in 2025. Her research examines gender and racial disparities in mental health, social wellbeing, and violence outcomes.