Shannon Wanless

About Shannon Wanless

Dr. Shannon Wanless is Director of the University Center for Social & Urban Research (UCSUR), and a community-engaged scholar. Having been in Pittsburgh for 15 years, Shannon continues to focus on building community and social change among adults that are helping young children thrive. As Director of UCSUR, she has the opportunity to help lead Pitt in supporting community thriving as well. UCSUR has a 50 year history and is currently evolving to be the home of community-engaged research at the University of Pittsburgh. Shannon began her career as a YMCA Summer Camp Director and a Head Start Teacher. She worked in urban and rural settings, and with children whose families showed incredible resilience in the face of the never-ending challenges of being refugees and being undocumented in the U.S. She earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Michigan, a doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning (CASTL) at the University of Virginia. Shannon was a Fulbright scholar for one year in Taiwan and researched the ways that social-emotional skills and self-regulation develop in a collectivist culture.

Experience

1. Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow

   The Aspen Institute

   Sep 2024 — Present

   As an Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, I was selected to be part of diverse cadre of leaders who are well-connected, well-prepared, and powerfully positioned to build the political will, change systems, and drive the policy agenda needed for the well-being and prosperity of all children and families.

Education

• University of Michigan

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Early Childhood Education and Teaching

  2000 — 2001

• University of Michigan

  Master of Arts - MA, Early Childhood Education

• Oregon State University

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Human Development and Family Studies, General

  2003 — 2009

Skills

• Higher Education
• Research Design
• Social Emotional Learning
• Educational Research
• Research
• Qualitative Research
• Curriculum Design
• Grants
• Academic Writing
• Community Outreach
• Early Childhood Education
• Child Development
• Teaching
• College Teaching
• Grant Writing
• Mplus
• Teacher Training
• Program Evaluation
• Classroom
• Stata
• Quantitative Research
• Early Childhood Development
• Program Development
• Statistics
• University Teaching
• Data Analysis
• Student Development
• Data Collection
• Curriculum Development
• Literature Reviews
• Psychology
• Theory