MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

Thank you for exploring the Department of Human Development’s website. I believe we have exciting programs at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels that should be of great interest to students interested in human development and learning.

Our faculty is a highly accomplished group of scholars who are leading researchers in their fields, and highly accomplished teachers in the university classroom. They also are leaders in various national organizations in the fields of human development, educational psychology, and early childhood education and development. The individuals on the faculty and our programs as whole have received numerous awards and recognitions for their excellence. We also hired last year several outstanding new assistant professors to join our faculty; Dr. Geetha Ramani joined us in spring 2008, and Dr. Donald Bolger joins us this fall. Dr. Nathan Hall will arrive in January 2009, and Dr. Meredith Rowe in August of 2009.

We have a variety of programs in the Department. At the undergraduate level students can obtain a certification as an early childhood educator, or take courses on different aspects of human development and learning. We have a newly-established Undergraduate Minor in Human Development that is generating much interest on campus. Our graduate programs emphasize the training of individuals interested in doing their own independent research on many different aspects of human development and learning.

As Chair of this outstanding department I take pride in the accomplishments of the faculty, and will work with them to continue to improve the quality of our programs and research. Our website provides details about our programs, our faculty’s research interests and accomplishments, and other exciting things happening in the Department. We are pleased to share these accomplishments with you, and hope they will interest you in becoming involved in our departments’ programs and research activities.