About

Dr. Melissa Libertus joined Case Western Reserve University in the fall of 2026 from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was Professor of Psychology, Senior Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center, and Director of Graduate Studies overseeing graduate training and funding for more than 80 PhD students across five programs.

A developmental and cognitive psychologist whose research examines how children develop mathematical thinking and how parents support that development, she has published more than 110 peer-reviewed articles, secured close to $16 million in external funding, and currently serves as one of nine PIs on the NSF-funded ManyNumbers consortium, coordinating more than 130 labs across 30 countries. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. She has received several honors, including the Developmental Science Early Career Research Prize, the Mind, Brain, and Education Society Early Career Award, and the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science. She has directly mentored 3 junior faculty, 4 postdocs, 8 graduate students, and more than 160 undergraduates.

PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, 2010

M.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, 2006

B.Sc. in Cognitive Science (summa cum laude), University of Osnabrück, Germany, 2004