Jonathan Plucker
Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University
Education:
- The University of Connecticut, B.S. with honors in Secondary Chemistry Education
- The University of Connecticut, M.A. in Educational Psychology: Special Education
- University of Virginia, Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with emphasis in statistics and research methodology
Background:
Jonathan Plucker is a prominent education policy and talent development scholar, and the inaugural Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a joint appointment at the Center for Talented Youth and School of Education.
Dr. Plucker received his bachelor's degree in chemistry education from The University of Connecticut in 1991, where he also received a master's degree in educational psychology in 1992. After briefly serving as an elementary school teacher, he attended the University of Virginia, where he received his doctorate in educational psychology in 1995. After briefly teaching for two years at the University of Maine, he arrived at Indiana University in 1997 as a visiting assistant professor. He became a tenure-track assistant professor in 1998, with promotion to associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2006.
His work focuses on education policy and talent development and has been supported by over $30 million in external grants and contracts. He has published over 200 articles, chapters, and reports, and his most recent books include Critical Issues and Practices in Gifted Education (2nd ed.) with Carolyn Callahan and Intelligence 101 with Amber Esping. He recently became editor for the Research-Based Decision Making for Gifted Education and Talent Development book series at Palgrave-Macmillan and the Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues series at IAP. His work defining and studying excellence gaps (http://cepa.uconn.edu/mindthegap) is part of a larger effort to reorient policymakers’ and educators’ thinking about how best to promote success and high achievement for all children.
Dr. Plucker enjoys collaborating with colleagues around the world, and frequently works in China, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and also collaborates with colleagues in South Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Hungary, Australia, and New Zealand.
Prof. Plucker has received a number of honors for his work. For his creativity work, he has received the Daniel E. Berlyne Award for outstanding research by a junior scholar (2001) and the Rudolf Arnheim Award for outstanding research by a senior scholar (2012) from Division 10 of the American Psychological Association, and the 2007 E. Paul Torrance Award for creativity research from the National Association of Gifted Children. For his gifted education research, he has received the NAGC Early Scholar Award (1998) and Distinguished Scholar Award (2013) and two awards from the Mensa Education & Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Research (1997 & 2000). For his education policy work, he has been ranked one of the Top 100 most influential academics working in education in 2011, 2013, and 2014.
Dr. Plucker is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (2009) and was named a Fellow of the American Associate for the Advancement of Science in 2011 "for distinguished contributions to the science of creativity and the creation of research-supported education policy."