Pelusa Orellana García holds a PhD in Education (specializing in Early Childhood, Families, and Literacy) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master’s in Instructional Leadership from the University of Alabama. She earned her teaching degree in English and a BA in Literature (English emphasis) from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

She is currently a full professor and researcher at the Faculty of Education, Universidad de los Andes, where she also serves as Vice Dean of Research and Academic Director of the Center for Research and Innovation in Reading (CIIL). Her career combines academic leadership, educational innovation, and international engagement, and she was recognized as one of Chile’s 100 Women Leaders in 2024.

Her research interests include reading development, reading assessment, reading diagnosis, reading instruction, reading motivation, reading interventions, as well as the study of text complexity and textbook quality.

She is the co-creator of Dialect, a platform for diagnosing reading skills, and Leer+, a tool for practicing reading comprehension and vocabulary. Her work integrates the design of assessment tools, research on literate environments, and the application of innovative methodologies to support reading development in diverse educational contexts.

She teaches courses such as Language Learning I and Language Learning II at the School of Education, and mentors both undergraduate and graduate students. Her teaching approach integrates applied research, educational technology, and strategies to foster reading motivation, bridging theory and practice.

She has also delivered conferences and workshops, such as “Leer+ Platform: Expanding Opportunities to Read and Comprehend”, sharing innovations and research findings to enrich teacher education and literacy instruction.