Jean Sunde Peterson

Jean Sunde Peterson, Ph.D., is a professor emerita and former director of school counselor preparation in the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University, where her work has focused on counseling and the social and emotional development of youth, particularly gifted students. She previously worked for many years as a classroom teacher and gifted-education teacher before completing graduate training in counseling at the University of Iowa and later becoming a licensed mental health counselor, with extensive experience counseling gifted youth and their families.

Peterson has authored or coauthored numerous books, journal articles, and invited chapters on giftedness, counseling, and student well-being, including How (and Why) to Get Students Talking: 78 Ready-to-Use Group Discussions About Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Relationships, and More (Grades 6–12), Get Gifted Students Talking, Bright, Complex Kids, Gifted at Risk: Poetic Profiles, The Essential Guide to Talking with Gifted Teens, and Counseling Gifted Students: A Guide for School Counselors. She has received multiple national awards for her scholarship and numerous teaching, research, and service awards at Purdue, and has served in leadership roles in gifted education, including two terms on the board of the National Association for Gifted Children and as chair of its Counseling and Guidance Network.[7