Ruby Takanishi was a senior research fellow with the Early and Elementary Education Policy program at New America.
She was the author of First Things First! Creating the New American Primary School (Teachers College Press, August 2016). Takanishi was the former president and CEO of the Foundation for Child Development, a grant-making philanthropy that launched the PreK–3rd movement in 2003.
She received awards from the American Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association (Division of Children and Families), and the Society for Research in Child Development in recognition of her contribution to connecting research with public policies. The American Education Research Association honored her with its 2014 Distinguished Public Service Award.
Takanishi received her PhD from Stanford University and has previously taught at UCLA, Teachers College at Columbia University, Yale University, and Bank Street College.