Karla Perez

Karla Esmeralda Perez, from Wheeling, Illinois, is pursuing a PhD in psychology at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and data science from Lake Forest College. Karla aspires to develop tools to enable children to understand their own minds and empower them to better navigate academic, social, and emotional challenges. Prior to starting her graduate school studies, she investigated how children’s self-knowledge affects their approach to problems in a developmental lab as a researcher in the MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences Research Scholars Program. Karla was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 2023 and is a three-time recipient of the Roger A. White ’60 Prize in Philosophy for her intellectual curiosity and commitment to lifelong learning.