Ronald A. Beghetto, PhD

Dr. Beghetto is an internationally recognized expert on human creativity and the possible in educational settings.  He holds the Pinnacle West Presidential Chair and serves as a Professor and Founder of the AI-Possibility Lab in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

Dr. Beghetto is Editor for Review of Research in Education, Series Editor for Creative Theory and Action in Education (Springer Books), and has served as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Creative Behavior and a Creativity advisor for LEGO Foundation and the Cartoon Network.

He is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts (Div. 10, APA), and the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI).  Beghetto is the 2018 recipient of the Rudolf Arnheim Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts and 2008 recipient of Daniel E. Berlyne Award from Div. 10 of the American Psychological Association.  

Dr. Beghetto is one of the Top 200 University-Based Scholars in Education (#85) based on the 2024 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings by Education Week.

Dr. Beghetto’s work explores Human Creativity, GenAI, and the Possible in Education across the following themes:

  • using GenAI as a partner in possibility thinking (designing and using custom AI tools and bots);

  • preparing young people for possible futures;

  • encouraging possibility thinking in education;

  • democratizing creative educational experiences;

  • supporting creative agency development;

  • structuring uncertainty for creative action;

  • developing new and dynamic creativity research methods.

Dr. Beghetto has received recognition and numerous awards for excellence in teaching, including the University of Oregon 's highest teaching award for early career faculty (2006 Ersted Crystal Apple Award), the 2015 ALD Faculty of the Year Award at the University of Connecticut, and the Provost's Recognition for Excellence in Teaching (University of Connecticut).

His prior appointments include Professor of Educational Psychology, Director of UCONN's Innovation House, and Graduate Program Coordinator for the Cognition, Instruction, Learning, & Technology Program in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.   He also previously served as the College of Education's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Education Studies at the University of Oregon, and Faculty-in-Residence for Research and Evaluation Projects for UO's Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC). 

Dr. Beghetto earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University (with an emphasis in Learning, Cognition and Instruction).