Linda Theron (D.Ed., guidance & counselling; HPCSA-registered Educational Psychologist) is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and an associate of the Center for the Study of Resilience, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria. She is also an extraordinary professor in the Optentia Research Unit, North-West University, SA, and an affiliate professor in the Centre for Resilience & Socio-emotional Health, University of Malta, Malta (where she teaches about resilience across minority and majority world contexts to students selected to the International Joint Masters in Resilience in Educational Contexts, https://lnkd.in/g-x_S5_g ). Her clinical and research interest is in African youth resilience to structural violence, with special interest in the multisystemic, contextually responsive resources that play into youth wellbeing. Linda’s track record of funded studies and 150+ publications align with this interest, as do the studies of 60+ postgraduate students whom she has mentored to completion.

Currently, Linda holds a £5,000,000.00 Wellcome Discovery Award to lead the R-NEET study (https://lnkd.in/dEjNuTvZ), a multi-site, 66-month, interdisciplinary investigation into the multisystemic roots of resilience to depression among young people who are NEET (i.e., not in education, employment, or training). She is also a key member of the consortium leading the Horizon-funded Planet4Health study (https://planet4health.eu/#), with the role of co-leading the investigation into human resilience to climate change and environmental stressors. She has shared her enduring interest in resilience at 150 conferences and symposia around the world and is often invited to provide keynote or plenary addresses that showcase the inspiring resilience of African young people.

Linda currently serves as an associate action editor for Adversity and Resilience Science (Springer) and Journal of Adolescent Research (Sage). She is also a subject editor (with a focus on human and community resilience) for Society & Ecology (the Resilience Alliance) and serves on several editorial boards, including Child Indicators Research, Journal of Adolescence, and School Psychology International. Amongst others, she is an invited member of the Wellcome Trust Career Development Interview Committee, citiesRISE Scientific Advisory Council, and EQUALITY Research Collective. The National Research Foundation of South Africa rated Linda’s resilience-focused work as internationally acclaimed (B1) and she is an elected member of the Academy of Science, South Africa (ASSAf).