Elissa L Newport

Elissa L Newport is a Professor at Georgetown University and serves as the Director of the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery. She holds the George Bergeron Professorship across Neurology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Psychology, and Linguistics. Previously, she was the George Eastman Professor at the University of Rochester, where she chaired the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for 12 years.

• Education: Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (1975), B.A. with Honors in Psychology from Barnard College.

Research Interests: Dr. Newport investigates language acquisition, brain plasticity, and recovery from early-life brain injuries. Her work combines neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics to explore hemispheric specialization, statistical learning, and neural reorganization after stroke.

Scientific Awards:

• Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
• Fellow, Society of Experimental Psychologists
• Fellow, Cognitive Science Society
• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
• William James Lifetime Achievement Award
• Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science
• American Psychological Association Distinguished Contribution Award

Grants: Supported by NIH, NSF, McDonnell Foundation, and Packard Foundation.

Labs: Leads the Learning and Development Lab and the Pediatric Stroke Research Project, focusing on language recovery mechanisms and developmental plasticity.