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The Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. Distinguished Lecture in the History of Psychology
11th Annual Benjamin Lecture
Daniel T. Willingham, PhD
Improving the Use of Psychological Science in K-12 Education
The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology was pleased to welcome Daniel T. Willingham, PhD as our Featured Speaker for the 11th Annual Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. Distinguished Lecture in the History of Psychology, held on May 15, 2025. Willingham is an acclaimed psychologist whose research has focused on the application of cognitive psychology to K-16 education.
A recording of the 2025 Benjamin Lecture is available to watch on our YouTube channel. Click the button below to watch Dr. Willingham's full lecture.
Abstract
How well-informed are American teachers about principles of psychology relevant to classrooms? Relevant data are scarce, but discouraging. In this talk, Dr. Willingham will suggest that the core problem is that teachers are taught this content as though they were future researchers, not future practitioners. Dr. Willingham will discuss changes to teacher preparation that could improve the use of psychology in K-12 education, and boost student achievement.
About the Speaker
Daniel Willingham is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until about 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-16 education.
He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Why Don't Students Like School?, and most recently, Outsmart Your Brain. His writing on education has appeared in twenty-three languages.
In 2017 he was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Member of the National Board for Education Sciences.
Sponsors
Special thanks to our 2025 Sponsors!
Platinum Patron: Psi Alpha International Honor Society for High School Psychology
Gold Patrons: Andrew Cummings, Kenneth and Connie Keith
Silver Patron: Hon. Deborah Cook
Bronze Patrons: Christopher Green, Rick and Dianne McNeese, Valerie Metzger, Kelli Vaughn-Johnson
Sponsor a Student: Ludy and Priscilla Benjamin, Toni and Lindsey Bisconti, Angela Morman
About the Benjamin Lecture
This lecture series honors Dr. Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr., an outstanding teacher, scholar, and researcher, whose work has contributed significantly to our understanding of psychology and its history.
The annual Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. Distinguished Lecture in the History of Psychology is hosted by the Cummings Center each year in May.
Past lectures are listed below. Click the links to access recordings of these lectures via the Cummings Center YouTube channel:
2025: Dr. Daniel T. Willingham From Cradle to Chapter Three: The Impact of Poverty on My Life
2024: Dr. Joseph E. Trimble, Tales from the Field: Principled Perspectives for Research with Indigenous Communities | (Download Lecture Handout)
2023: Dr. Rosie Phillips Davis, Improving the Use of Psychological Science in K-12 Education
2022: Dr. David B. Baker, Saving Time: The History of Psychology and the Human Experience
2021: Postponed due to COVID-19
2020: Postponed due to COVID-19
2019: Dr. Laura Stark, The Other Akron: Searching for the “Normal” Mind in Postwar America
2018: Dr. David G. Myers, Teaching Psychological Science in a Post-Truth Age
2017: Dr. Keith Humphreys, Alcoholics Anonymous and Psychology: A Long and Winding Road
2015: Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, A Life in Memory
2014: Dr. Andrew Winston, The Explication of Evil: Psychologists and the Holocaust, 1945-1955