Professor Nathan Fox named Distinguished University Professor, 01/08

Nathan Fox, Department of Human Development, has been appointed Distinguished University Professor by President Dan Mote. He is the first faculty member within the college to be granted this designation. The distinguished professorship is the highest academic honor the University of Maryland bestows.

"I am very pleased to be appointed Distinguished University Professor," said Fox. This is an honor for me and reflects the support I have received over the years from my department and the college."

The formal title of Distinguished University Professor is awarded to a limited number of the university's most accomplished professors. Recipients are established scholars held in the highest esteem by professional colleagues nationally and internationally whose achievements have had a significant influence on their discipline and beyond. The title is accompanied by an annual honorarium of $5,000 to support the awardee's professional activities during their tenure at the university.

"We congratulate Dr. Fox on attaining this prestigious distinction," said Interim Dean Donna Wiseman. "He is a prime example of the influential scholars we have within the college whose research makes a significant difference in the evolution and advancement of their field."

In his past 25 years at the university, Fox has focused his research on early social and emotional development. His interests are in the biological bases of individual differences in infant temperament and the role of early experience as it affects brain and behavior in the realm of social and emotional competencies. Fox's studies have been continuously funded for the past 19 years by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). He was also granted a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health for his work on infant temperament. He currently receives funding as well from the National Institute of Mental Health for research on temperament and psychopathology, and for studies examining the role of emotion and attention in the development of preschool psychopathology. Fox was a member of the Early Experience and Brain Development research network sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation. Through this network and with continued funding from the Macarthur Foundation he has been studying the effects of institutionalization on cognitive, social and emotional development in infants and young children in Romania.

Fox is the author of over 100 empirical papers and 40 chapters in edited volumes. He has also held leadership positions with top journals in his field, including serving as associate editor of Psychophysiology and Developmental Psychology, and as editor of Infant Behavior and Development. He is currently an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Behavioral Development. Fox is former President of Division Seven (Developmental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and of the International Society for Infant Studies. Currently, he serves as Chair of a review panel Biobehavioral and Behavioral Sciences Subcommittee for NICHD.

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