Sally E. Shaywitz, MD

Board Member

Dr. Shaywitz was elected to the National Board of Directors in 2008. An internationally renowned physician-scientist, she has devoted her career to pursuing deeper scientific knowledge of dyslexia and to ensuring that this scientific progress is transformed into policy and practice. A highly respected and trusted leader, she is the Audrey G. Ratner Professor in Learning Development at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Co-Director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.

Dr. Shaywitz is the author of more than 250 scientific articles, chapters and books, including the highly acclaimed, Overcoming Dyslexia (Knopf, 2003) which details critical scientific findings on dyslexia and how to translate this scientific knowledge into clinical practice. Her research provides the basic framework: conceptual model, epidemiology and neurobiology for the scientific study of dyslexia. Dr. Shaywitz originated and championed the “Sea of Strengths” model of dyslexia, which emphasizes the strengths of higher critical thinking and creativity surrounding the encapsulated weakness found in children and adults who are dyslexic. Her most recent work provides the long sought-after empiric evidence for the unexpected nature of dyslexia.

Dr. Shaywitz’ many awards include election to the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Williams College; the Townsend Harris Medal of the City College of New York; the Annie Glenn Award for Leadership from the Ohio State University; and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Shaywitz served on the National Reading Panel and the Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children Committee and currently serves on the WISC-5 Advisory Panel. Recently, she co-chaired the National Research Council Committee on Gender Differences in the Careers of Science, Engineering and Mathematics Faculty. She has also served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS), the National Research Council Committee on Women in Science and Engineering and the Scientific Advisory Board of the March of Dimes. Dr. Shaywitz received her A.B. (with Honors) from the City University and her M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.