Kenneth Pugh, Ph.D.
Co-founder of Haskins Global Literacy
Email: kenneth.pugh@uconn.edu
Dr. Pugh has served for 16 years as the Director of Research at Haskins Laboratories in New Haven Connecticut and holds academic appointments as a Professor in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Connecticut, and as an Associate Professor at the Yale Child Study Center in the Yale University School of Medicine. His research program falls primarily in two broad domains: cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics. A fundamental interest continues to be research into the neurobiology of typical and atypical language and reading development in children. Read More.
Fumiko Hoeft, MD, Ph.D.
Co-founder of Haskins Global Literacy
Email: fumiko.hoeft@uconn.edu
Fumiko Hoeft, MD, Ph.D., serves as Campus Dean of UConn Waterbury and holds professorships in Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience, Educational Psychology, and other disciplines. An internationally recognized cognitive neuroscientist, she has dedicated over 22 years to understanding the neuroscience of reading, dyslexia, emotional resilience, and well-being. Dr. Hoeft co-founded the Haskins Global Literacy Hub in 2017, now revitalized and headquartered at UConn Waterbury since 2024, bridging initiatives with Yale Child Study Center and UConn Global. Read More.
Benjamin Powers, DBA
Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Email: benjamin.powers@uconn.edu
Benjamin Powers, DBA is a researcher, practitioner, and advocate who works with students with dyslexia and ADHD. After completing a BA in Russian, he studied Language Education at IUB, earned an Executive MBA from RIT, and then fused his interests in entrepreneurship and dyslexia by completing a Doctorate in Business Administration at GEM. His research focused on self- esteem and self-efficacy perceptions of adolescents with LD/ADHD to understand the impact on social-emotional well-being. Read More.
Maureen Lovett, Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Email: maureen.lovett@yale.edu
Maureen W. Lovett is an Associate Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub. She has contributed to learning disabilities research and practice for four decades and was one of the first researchers to conduct randomized controlled trials of the efficacy of interventions for dyslexia. She is known internationally for her research on interventions for children and youth with reading disorders. In recent years, her research has included a substantial knowledge translation and dissemination effort. Read More.
John Russell, EDD.
Associate Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub
Email: john.russell@yale.edu
Dr. John J. Russell is Associate Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub at the Yale Child Study Center and an Associate Research Professor at the University of Connecticut. Previously, Dr. Russell was head of The Windward School, an independent co-educational day school for children with language-based learning disabilities, and executive director of the Windward Institute. Over the past four decades, Dr. Russell has held leadership and teaching positions in public school districts in Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut, including 11 years as superintendent of schools. Read More.
Nicole Landi, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Developmental Psychology
Email: nicole.landi@uconn.edu
Nicole Landi, PhD, is Professor of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center. Her research, which is funded by NIH, NSF, and private foundations, examines the neurobiology of reading, reading disabilities, and reading intervention response using cognitive neuroscience methods. She also currently serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for IDA, as Chair Elect of the Awards Committee for the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR), and President of the New England Research on Dyslexia (NERDY) Society. Read More.