USC’s Mary Helen Immordino-Yang elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The University of Southern California proudly announces that Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a professor of education, psychology and neuroscience and founding director of USC’s Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (USC CANDLE), has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of national and global importance, and work together, as expressed in its charter, “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” Their work has helped set the direction of research and analysis in science and technology policy, global security and international affairs, social policy, education, the humanities and the arts.

The Academy recognizes leaders across disciplines who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of knowledge and the public good. Immordino-Yang joins a distinguished company of notable honorees—from earliest members John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Maria Mitchell and Alexander Graham Bell. Other distinguished members have included Margaret Mead, Jonas Salk, Barbara McClintock, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Aaron Copland, Martha Graham, John Hope Franklin, Georgia O’Keeffe, E. O. Wilson, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and N. Scott Momaday. International Honorary Members have included Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Wislawa Szymborska, Laurence Olivier, Mary Leakey, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Akira Kurosawa and Nelson Mandela. Current members represent today’s innovative thinkers in every field and profession, including more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.

“Being elected to the Academy is a humbling and deeply meaningful honor,” said Immordino-Yang. “It affirms the importance of using science to elevate how we think about learning and development—not just as cognitive tasks, but as profoundly emotional, social and cultural processes. I am grateful to my colleagues, students and the communities we partner with for shaping and advancing this work together.”

Internationally recognized for her pioneering research at the intersection of neuroscience, human development and education, Immordino-Yang has made groundbreaking contributions to understanding how emotion, social experience and culture shape brain development and learning. Her work has informed education policy, curriculum and teacher preparation around the globe. Currently, Immordino-Yang is investigating how adolescents make meaning of their world—what is termed transcendent thinking—and examining how secondary teachers support and nurture this type of developmental learning.

“Mary Helen’s election to the Academy is a powerful acknowledgment of the impact her work is having on how we educate young people,” said Pedro A. Noguera, Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education. “She is helping to transform our understanding of what adolescents need to learn deeply and thrive fully—and how schools and systems must evolve to meet those needs. We are extraordinarily proud to have her as a colleague and leader at USC.”

USC Rossier Board of Councilors member, Elana Glasenberg acknowledged Immordino-Yang’s outstanding research and its global impact on adolescents’ social and emotional learning. “This appointment recognizes Mary Helen’s profound influence on international school policies and curriculum. By focusing on the importance of students’ well-being, agency and development, her work is changing the way we imagine teaching and learning worldwide,” said Glasenberg. “USC Rossier is deeply proud of the work that she and her team accomplish at USC CANDLE.” 

In addition to her leadership at USC CANDLE, Immordino-Yang holds the Fahmy and Donna Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology at the USC Rossier School of Education, where she is a professor of education. She is also a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and a faculty member in the USC Brain and Creativity Institute. She has received numerous awards for her work, served as a distinguished scientist on the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, and was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2023. 

"Mary Helen Immordino-Yang’s career has been devoted to the world of education,” said Antonio Damasio, Academy member since 1997, USC University Professor, David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience and director, Brain and Creativity Institute. “It is good to see her contributions to that world recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.”

Her election to the Academy underscores USC’s continued leadership in pioneering interdisciplinary research that advances equity, innovation, and human flourishing in education and beyond.

About CANDLE
Founded in 2019, USC CANDLE is dedicated to transforming education through the integration of developmental social-affective neuroscience and pedagogical practices. Housed within USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute and the USC Rossier School of Education, CANDLE aims to create evidence-based educational reforms that promote student engagement, equity, citizenship and long-term well-being.

For more information: candle.usc.edu

For media inquiries: candle.media@usc.edu