Educating Minds and Hearts:

David Adams
School Liaison at CSEE

David Adams works as a School Liaison at CSEE. He graduated with his Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University. He is currently attending Fordham University where he is pursuing a Professional Diploma in School Psychology with a Masters of Science Degree in Educational Psychology: School Psychology Specialization in Educational Evaluation and Intervention. David's research and policy interests include understanding and expanding the role of social and emotional learning and school climate in improving educational outcomes of urban school systems.

Philip M. Brown, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Social and Character Development
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University

Philip Brown received his doctorate in developmental psychology and the addictions from the Union Institute and University and has worked on applying systems theory to the educational change process in schools for the past 30 years, focusing on the areas of drug abuse prevention, school health services, social-emotional learning programs, and using core ethical values as the basis for improving school climate. His most recent publication is a chapter on evaluation in "Effective Character Education: A Guidebook for Future Educators".

His accomplishments during his career directing programs in the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the New Jersey Department of Education included the creation of the first educational credential in substance abuse prevention and directing the largest state project in the country supporting the development of character education.

He established of the Center for Social and Character Development at Rutgers University through two consecutive federal grants under the NCLB Partnerships in Character Education program, conducting process and outcome research in schools throughout New Jersey on the development of social and character development programs.

The Center for Social and Character Development provides professional training and consultation to educators in public schools and conducts evaluation research on the effectiveness of social development programs through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and President of CSEE

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. is the co-founder and president of the Center of Social and Emotional Education (CSEE). He is also Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University; Adjunct Professor in Education at the School of Professional Studies, City University of New York and a practicing clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst.

Jonathan has worked in and with K-12 schools for over thirty years as a teacher, program developer, school psychologist, consultant, psycho-educational diagnostician and mental health provider. After working as a middle school teacher at the Marianne Frostig Center for Educational Therapy in Los Angles, he received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the City University of New York, New York, New York and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychology (1979-1980) at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center as well as at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, N.Y. He completed his adult psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Training Institute of the New York Freudian Society and received child analytic training at the Psychoanalytic Institute, New York University Medical Center. He is a Diplomat in Clinical Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (June, 1988).

Jonathan founded and directs the Teachers College Press Social Emotional Learning series, which is published in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social Emotional Learning. He has authored over 60 articles, chapters and books including Educating Minds and Hearts: Social Emotional Learning and the Passage into Adolescence (Teachers College Press and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999); The Psychoanalytic Study of Lives over Time: Clinical and Research Perspectives on Children Who Return to Treatment as Adults (co-edited with Bert Cohler; Academic Press; 1999) and, Caring Classrooms/Intelligent Schools: Social Emotional Education of young Children (Teachers College Press; 2001). Both of his Teachers College Press books were awarded the "Best Academic Book" by the American Library Associations Choice in 1999 and 2001 respectfully. He is a co-author (with John Devine) of Making your School Safe: Strategies to Protect Children and Promote Learning (Teachers College Press, 2007)

Dr. Cohen has consulted to scores of schools, districts and State Departments of Education interested in furthering social, emotional, ethical and academic education and positive school climate in American, Switzerland, Israel, and Scandinavia. He often works with groups of educators, parents and/or mental health professionals here and abroad. He speaks to educational and parent groups about a range of topics and has presented keynotes at scores of local, state, national and international conferences.

He is the father of two children and has been married for 28 years.

Maurice Elias
Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University

Maurice J. Elias is a Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, President of the international Society for Community Research and Action and Division of Community Psychology (27) of the American Psychological Association, Director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab and the Developing Safe and Civil Schools (DSACS): A Coordinated Approach to Social-Emotional and Character Development (www.teachSECD.com), and Founding Member of the Leadership Team for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Among his writings are Emotionally Intelligent Parenting (2000), Raising Emotionally Intelligent Teenagers (2002), Engaging the Resistant Child Through Computers (2002, author), the Social Decision Making/Social Problem Solving Curricula for Elementary and Middle School Students (2006, www.researchpress.com), Bullying, Peer Harassment, and Victimization in the Schools: The Next Generation of Prevention (Haworth, 2003), The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement: Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom (Corwin Press, 2006), and Urban Dreams: Stories of Hope, Character, and Resilience (2008, Hamilton Books).

Dr. Elias is a licensed psychologist, an approved provider of professional development for educators in New Jersey, and is married and the father of two children.

Mary Grenz Jalloh, M.P.H., M.S.

Mary is the Founder and Executive Director of the New York State Center for School Safety, a government coordinating agency for school violence prevention. Ms. Jalloh holds graduate degrees in public health, rural sociology, and school business administration. She is the author of numerous book chapters and peer reviewed articles in education and public health.

Leo Dannny Mallonga, M.A., Ed.M., Ed.D. Cand.

Leo is a member of CSEE's visiting faculty. He is an organizational development consultant specializing in group process and conflict resolution. He comes from Columbia University's International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR), where he was the Senior Program Administrator and Marketing Director. He is currently a doctoral candidate of Educational Administration as well as an adjunct instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Kim McLaughlin
Executive Director, New York State Student Support Services Center Genesee Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services

Kim McLaughlin, MS Ed, M Ed, C.A.S. is Executive Director of the New York State Student Support Services Center. Kim is a school administrator, educator, capacity builder and learner who has worked with K-12 school communities and as higher education faculty to develop, enhance and sustain healthy, safe and supportive schools and classrooms through the meaningful involvement of key stakeholders.

Merle Schwartz, Ph.D.
Director of Education and Research at the Character Education Partnership

Merle Schwartz, Ph.D. is the director of Education and Research at the Character Eduation Partnership. She is the editor of Effective Character Education: A Guidebook for Future Educator (2007).

Joan Stamler
Director of Research at CSEE

Joan Stamler is a PhD candidate in Education Leadership, Policy and Politics at Teachers College, Columbia University from which she received an M.A. in Developmental Psychology. Her research experience includes work in schools tracing the development of inquiry learning skills among middle grade students and monitoring the development of teachers' skills in proximal assessment for learner diagnosis as part of a ground-up model for improving student achievement. Her policy interests center on the role of data-based decision making for system improvement and on the development of accurate and actionable tools for measuring critical dimensions of school performance and process, including school climate, to support this goal. Prior to her work in education, Ms. Stamler had an extensive career in business as a senior executive in the media industry, working for companies such as Bertelsmann and SONY. She holds an MBA from New York University and an Sc.B. in Psychology from Brown University.

Cecile Wren

Cecile is a member of CSEE's consultation staff. She was the principal at Jericho Middle School for eight years and worked collaboratively with her staff to design and implement a resilient middle school that articulates a clear vision, social and emotional literacy strategies, and research-based best practices. As a result, Jericho Middle School has been recognized as a New York State Network Support School, as well as, a High-Performing Gap Closing School and provides support to middle schools throughout New York State. Mrs. Wren and her staff have presented at both local and state conferences and Jericho Middle School frequently hosts school visitations.

Mrs. Wren was the past-president of the Nassau County Middle School Principal's Association; was a Liaison to the New York State Education Department; is a member of the Social and Emotional Literacy Forum (SELF) Steering Committee, the executive committee for the Social and Emotional Wellness (SEW) Forum sponsored by the North Shore/LIJ Mental Health Alliance, and serves on the Love Is Not Abuse Advisory Board for Liz Claiborne Inc.

She has over 30 years experience as an educator and her experiences include: Middle and High School Mathematics Teacher, Technology Coordinator, Dean of Students, as well as, an Elementary Principal. In addition to working with CSEE, she is a senior coach for the Academy of Education Development, and provides school districts with specialized training programs for teachers and administrators.