Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D.

Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., is Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Director, Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab (www.secdlab.org), Co-Director of the Rutgers-based Academy for SEL in Schools, which offers online certificates in SEL Instruction and School Leadership (SELinSchools.org), and a member of the Leadership Team for SEL4NJ and SEL4US (www.SEL4US.org). He received the Joseph E. Zins Memorial Senior Scholar Award for Social-Emotional Learning from CASEL, the Sanford McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education, and the Jane Bostrum Service to School Psychology Award. Maurice is a past winner of the Lela Rowland Prevention Award, the Ernest McMahon Class of 1930 Award for service to New Jersey, and the American Psychological Association/Society for Community Research and Action's Distinguished Contribution to Practice and Ethnic Minority Mentoring awards. Most recently, he is the co-author of Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students: 30 Flexible Research-Based Lessons to Build EQ Skills, Nurturing Students’ Character: Everyday Teaching Activities for Social-Emotional Learning, Social-Emotional Learning Lab: A Comprehensive SEL Resource Kit (2021, with Victoria Poedubicky), and the forthcoming Morning Classroom Conversations: Build Your Students’ Social-Emotional, Character and Communication Skills Every Day (Corwin). . Books for parents include Emotionally Intelligent Parenting (in multiple languages), and The Joys and Oys of Parenting. He writes a blog on SECD for Edutopia (www.edutopia.org/profile/maurice-j-elias) and can be reached at secdlab@gmail.com. Twitter handles are @SELinSchools and @SECDLab. He is a licensed psychologist and lives in New Jersey with his wife, Ellen, near their two children and two grandsons, Harry and Isaac. He enjoys doing everything with his grandsons, especially sports, reading, imaginative play, music, building, and being silly. Hobbies include racquetball and pinochle.