Faculty

The Department of Human Development hosts many faculty members held in high esteem within the professional community. Many are nationally recognized experts in their particular areas of expertise through leadership positions in major professional associations, presentations at national and international professional conferences and through publication of original theory and research in peer-reviewed professional journals and books. Several faculty members hold Fellow status in the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. Faculty also serve as consulting or associate editors and editors of premier journals in the field such as American Educational Research Journal, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Child Development, Adolescence, Human Development, Journal of Research in Adolescence, Developmental Psychophysiology, Educational Psychologist, Early Education and Development, the Journal of Educational Psychology, Review of Education Research, and Learning and Cognition.

Departmental faculty are engaged in a wide range of research projects investigating human development. Most faculty in the Institute/Department welcome student participation in their research and service programs. These interactions provide opportunities for graduate students to enhance their expertise in areas of special interest.

Faculty

  • Patricia A. Alexander (University of Maryland)
    palexand@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Expertise; domain learning; interplay of knowledge, interests, and strategic processing; reading; epistemological beliefs; decision making.
  • Natasha Cabrera (University of Denver)
    ncabrera@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Fatherhood; developmental trajectories of low-income children; intersection of research and public policy; welfare; childhood and parenting.
  • Charles H. Flatter (University of Maryland)
    cflatter@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Parenting; fathering; attachment; leadership; parent education' drug prevention education; self; self-esteem; family support.
  • Nathan A. Fox (Harvard University)
    fox@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Temperament; development of emotion and emotion regulation; developmental psychophysiology; infant cognitive/social development.
  • John T. Guthrie, Professor Emeritus (University of Illinois)
    jguthrie@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Cognitive and motivational aspects of reading and learning; psychology of learning and instruction in classroom contexts.
  • Brenda Jones Harden (Yale University)
    bjharden@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Development of maltreated foster, prenatally drug-exposed, and other children at-risk; prevention science and program evaluation.
  • Melanie Killen (University of California, Berkeley)
    mkillen@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Moral reasoning about intergroup relationships; social cognition; children's and adolescents' evaluations of group inclusion and exclusion; cultural influences on development.
  • Elisa L. Klein (Pennsylvania State University)
    elklein@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Child care and early education policy; early childhood education (curriculum theory and implementation); young children's understanding of their early school experiences; teacher beliefs about development; teacher education.
  • Robert F. Marcus (Pennsylvania State University)
    marcusrf@mail.umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Family relationships; attachment; prosocial behavior; adolescent violence; social skills; delinquency; personality and socio-emotional development in young children and adolescents.
  • Geetha B. Ramani (University of Pittsburgh)
    gramani@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Influence of social interactions on young children’s cognitive development; Learning through cooperative play and activities; Early mathematics and problem-solving skills; Development and correlates of peer cooperation
  • Elizabeth-Anne Robertson-Tchabo (Univ of Southern California)
    earobertson-tchabo@prodigy.net
    Cognitive development and aging; achievement of African-American and Latino adolescents; early adolescent development and academic achievement; educational intervention programs.
  • Kenneth H. Rubin (Pennsylvania State University)
    krubin@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Social, emotional, and personality development; peer relationships; parent-child relationships; the origins and consequences of childhood anxious-withdrawal, aggression, and social competence; cross-cultural social development.
  • Judith Torney-Purta (University of Chicago)
    jtpurta@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Social/political cognition; civic education cross-nationally; cross-cultural and inter-cultural studies; research related to social policy; interaction in technology-rich environments; social studies and history learning.
  • Min Wang (University of Toronto)
    minwang@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Language and reading acquisition; cross language and writing system comparisons; second language/bilingual literacy development.
  • Kathryn R. Wentzel (Stanford University)
    wentzel@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Adolescent social development; motivation and self-regulation; interpersonal relationships and school adjustment; students' relationships with teachers and peers.
  • Allan Wigfield (University of Illinois)
    awigfiel@umd.edu, Curriculum Vitae
    Development and socialization of motivation and self-concept; gender differences ; achievement motivation; self-regulation and learning; motivation for literacy.

Full Time Lecturers


Administration


Administrative Staff

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