Isaac Prilleltensky is a true agent of change. Throughout his prolific career as a psychologist, educator, and scholar, he has broken new ground in developing community-based approaches to psychological and social health. He is a renowned authority on the prevention of child abuse and has written several seminal texts that strengthen the important link between psychology and social justice. Isaac Prilleltensky transcends the Ivory Tower with a personal mission to bring evidence-based strategies into practice, where they have a profound impact on the quality of people’s lives.

Born in Argentina, Prilleltensky also has lived in Israel, Canada, Australia, and the United States. A citizen of the world, he is fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew and conversational in Italian and Portuguese. The climate of political repression that colored his early youth in Argentina, and its dramatic contrast to the communalism he experienced in Israel and other parts of the world, played a key role in his choice of a career that confronts and reinvents social institutions.

Prilleltensky completed a B.A. in psychology at Bar Ilan University in Israel, a master’s degree in clinical child psychology at Tel Aviv University, and a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Manitoba in western Canada. Following several years as a school psychologist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he became disenchanted with reactive, individualistic approaches to psychosocial problems and decided to explore a different tack as a community psychologist.

This career shift began in 1991 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, where Prilleltensky was an associate professor and director of the Community Psychology Program. Nine years later he moved to Australia to become professor and research chair in psychology at Victoria University in Melbourne. There he established the Wellness Promotion Unit, which partnered with community organizations to promote child and family well-being through prevention, empowerment, and social action.

Isaac Prilleltensky has lived in the United States since 2003, when he became director of the Doctoral Program in Community Research and Action at Vanderbilt University. He was appointed dean of the University of Miami School of Education in 2006 and recently was named the inaugural Erwin and Barbara Mautner Chair in Community Well-Being.

Prilleltensky has a clearly defined vision for the School of Education—to be a center of excellence in the study, promotion, and integration of educational, psychological, and physical well-being in multicultural communities. He applies a holistic view to the structure and function of communities, and to the educational system that he considers their foundation. Under his leadership, the School of Education operates more than $8 million in funded projects in areas such as special education, language development, math and science education, positive youth development, organizational capacity development, and disease prevention.

A fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the Society for Community Research and Action. Prilleltensky has published seven books and more than 100 articles and book chapters. He has received 25 external grants in Canada, Australia, and the United States, and has presented keynote addresses in international conferences in 16 countries. His recent book, Promoting Well-Being: Linking Personal, Organizational, and Community Change, co-authored with his wife School of Education clinical assistant professor Ora Prilleltensky, sets the foundation for a new research and training project designed to optimize the interaction between psychological wellness and organizational and community health.