Biography

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Richard M. Lerner, PhD, is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and the director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. A developmental psychologist, Lerner received his PhD in 1971 from the City University of New York. He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society. 

Lerner is known for his theory of, and research about, relations between life span, human development, and contextual or ecological change. He has done foundational studies of the mutually influential relations between adolescents and their peer, family, school, and community contexts. As illustrated by his 2004 book, Liberty: Thriving and Civic Engagement Among America’s Youth, his scholarship integrates the study of public policies and community-based programs with the promotion of positive youth development and youth contributions to civil society.