Robert W. Roeser, PhD, MSW, is the Bennett Pierce Professor of Care, Compassion and Human Development at the College of Health and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. He has a PhD from the combined program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan (1996) and holds master’s degrees in religion and psychology, developmental psychology, and clinical social work.
In 2005 and 2016 Roeser was a United States Fulbright Scholar in India; from 1999 through 2004, he was a William T. Grant Faculty Scholar; and from 2006 to 2010, he served as the Senior Program Coordinator for the Mind & Life Institute (Boulder, Colo.) and helped to coordinate the Mind & Life Education Research Network. He also served on the working group that designed the original Call to Care Curriculum for the Mind & Life Institute. He is a scientific advisor to the follow-on work of the Courage of Care Coalition and served on the planning committee for Mind & Life Institute’s 2018 Summer Research Institute.
Roeser’s scholarship and research is focused on schools as key cultural contexts of human development and the use of contemplative practices in educational settings for school administrators and leaders, teachers and staff, and students. His laboratory is devoted to the study of the effects of mindfulness and compassion in education with regard to improving health and well-being, teaching and learning, and an equitable and compassionate culture in education.