Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter is a professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University and holds the Nicholas Hobbs Chair in Special Education and Human Development. Her research focuses on effective instruction, supporting social emotional development and addressing challenging behavior, and coaching teachers. Dr. Hemmeter conducts presentations and workshops throughout the US and abroad. She has directed numerous multi-site projects funded by the US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Through her work on the National Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning and IES-funded research projects, she was involved in the development of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Young Children and the Practice Based Coaching Model. She is a co-author on the Connect4Learning Early Childhood Curriculum and the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool. She was co-editor of the Journal of Early Intervention and President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood. She received the Merle B. Karnes Service to the Division Award and the Mary McEvoy Service to the Field Award.