Roberta Golinkoff

University of Delaware

Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Professor

Bio for Roberta Golinkoff University of Delaware and Author Cell: 302-530-0737; Roberta@udel.edu Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD, Cornell University, is Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Education at the University of Delaware. Having published more than 150 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, Golinkoff is passionate about transforming formal and informal education to align with the science of learning and development. A member of the National Academy of Education, many awards from major professional societies acknowledge her research and dissemination efforts. Indeed, five of her 17 books were written for the public and practitioners. Her research, funded by Federal agencies and the LEGO Foundation, is known globally. With the Jacobs Foundation and the New America Foundation, she is co-founder of the Learning Sciences Exchange, a fellowship program inviting professionals in diverse fields to leave their silos and work together for society’s benefit. She also created Stories with Clever Hedgehog for Ukrainian children caught up in the throes of conflict to provide the opportunity for playful learning and stress reduction. Her project, Playful Learning Landscapes, embeds physical installations into communities to promote child well-being interaction with adults and peers. She is also responsible for a new family of language screeners (Quick Interactive Language Screeners or QUILS) that identify young children with language problems. Both are prime examples of translational science. Her sixteenth book, Becoming Brilliant, reached the New York Times best-seller list, and its follow up, Making Schools Work, offers a framework for transforming education and is being used as the basis for a large project funded by the Lego Foundation. Her newest book Einstein Never Used Flashcards appears in early 2026 and won a Books for a Better Life Award for its first edition. She was recently named to the National Academy of Education and elected president of Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.