Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. From 1991 to 2020, she was a Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC).  

Dr. Schonert-Reichl received her MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Chicago, her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Iowa, and completed her postdoctoral work as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Fellow in the Clinical Research Training Program in Adolescence at the University of Chicago and the Department of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Medical School.  

Prior to her graduate work, Dr. Schonert-Reichl worked as a middle school teacher and then as a teacher at an alternative high school for adolescents identified as at risk for high school completion. Dr. Schonert-Reichl’s research focuses on identification of the processes that foster positive human qualities such as empathy, compassion, altruism, and resiliency in children and adolescents.

Dr. Schonert-Reichl has received numerous accolades, including the CUFA BC Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award and the UBC Killam Teaching Prize. She has contributed to global conversations on SEL, engaging with the Dalai Lama at international summits. Her work continues to shape education policy and practice, promoting wellbeing in schools and communities