Rochel Gelman, Ph.D.

Rochel Gelman, Ph.D.

Rochel Gelman is a professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science, and the codirector of the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS). Before joining Rutgers, she was Professor of Psychology first at the University of Pennsylvania and then at the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA). She is widely known for her pioneering research on what infants and preschool children already know or learn with relative ease. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; a William James Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science; and a recipient of the Society for Research in Child Development's Distinguished Lifetime Scientific Contribution to Child Development Award, the Early Career Research Contribution Award, and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association. She has received a Mentor Award from Division 7 of the American Psychological Association for her training of other scientists, especially women who have gone on to distinguished careers in psychological research.

Dr. Gelman's research program is organized around a longtime interest in learning, cognition, and developmental cognitive science. Her book, The Child's Understanding of Number (Harvard University Press, 1978), with C.R. Gallistel, is considered a landmark publication about preschool children's numerical competencies. Dr. Gelman's other publications include several edited volumes and monographs and more than 100 book chapters and papers. She has collaborated with school and museum professionals in published research on the creation of environments that promote math and science learning in schools and museums. Preschool Pathways to Science (PrePS™) represents her most extensive effort of this kind.