Elise Cappella

Elise Cappella is Vice Provost for University-wide Initiatives and Graduate Education and Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt’s School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She is co-Director of NYU’s Institute of Education Sciences Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training (IES-PIRT) program dedicated to training the next generation of education scientists and leaders. Dr. Cappella’s research focuses on understanding and promoting social-emotional and academic learning and behavioral and mental health among students in pre-k to 8th grade. In partnership with school districts and community organizations serving students of color from low-income families, she studies school and afterschool climate, teaching practices, peer relationships, and social and behavioral interventions for students with emotional or behavioral difficulties. Dr. Cappella’s research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, Spencer Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, and Foundation for Child Development. The ultimate goal of her work is to enable more education settings to create equitable opportunities for positive development for students with diverse strengths and needs. Dr. Cappella is a former fourth grade teacher with a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a doctorate in Clinical and Community Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.