Dr. Shulamit Ritblatt, Professor of Child and Family Development Department, at San Diego State University, is the Director of the Center for family, School, and Community Engagement. She received her Ph.D. in Child and Family Development from Florida State University in 1993. Prior to coming to the USA, she worked as a clinical child psychologist in Israel after completion of her master’s in Clinical Child Psychology in Tel Aviv University. In 2009 (till December 2015), Dr. Ritblatt served as Chair of the Child & Family Development Department, at San Diego State University.

Since 1995, Dr. Ritblatt has been teaching and mentoring students at SDSU, preparing them to work in the field with children and their families, focusing on and emphasizing the importance of the socio-emotional base in early development and learning. She is an expert in early childhood social-emotional development with the focus on early childhood mental health and learning readiness. Her work focuses on prevention and early intervention, utilizing relational, reflective, and trauma-informed practices to support healthy development of young children.