Lillard's primary research interests include Montessori education and children's pretend play.

Lillard is a frequent keynote speaker at psychology, Montessori, and education conferences nationally and internationally. Her scientific work has appeared in journals such as the Psychological Bulletin, Science, Pediatrics, and Psychological Science, and has been featured in popular press outlets including Nightline, The Washington Post, Forbes, and Slate. Lillard is author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, 3rd edition. Lillard moved to the University of Virginia, where she has remained since. She was then awarded funding by the National Science Foundation to serve as a visiting professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley for one year. Lillard began her career in academia at the University of San Francisco, where she served as assistant professor of psychology from 1991 to 1995. Her dissertation research, focusing on young children's mental representations of pretend play, was awarded theAmerican Psychological Association's Outstanding Dissertation Award of 1992, and later the Boyd McCandless Award for early contributions to developmental science. Lillard completed her PhD under the supervision of John Flavell at Stanford University in 1991.

Lillard is an internationally recognized expert in Montessori education and the author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, which is in its third edition, has been translated into several languages, and was awarded the Cognitive Development Society Book Award in 2006.ĭr. Angeline Stoll Lillard is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, where she directs the Early Development Laboratory, one of four child development laboratories in the psychology department at the university.

Montessori by Angeline Stoll Lillard