Richard M. Lerner

Richard M. Lerner is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science at Tufts University. A developmental psychologist, Lerner received a Ph.D. 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, the American Psychological Society, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology.

Prior to joining Tufts University, he was on the faculty and held administrative posts at Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Boston College, where he was the Anita L. Brennan Professor of Education and the Director of the Center for Child, Family, and Community Partnerships. During the 1994-95 academic year Lerner held the Tyner Eminent Scholar Chair in the Human Sciences at Florida State University. Lerner is the author or editor of 42 books and more than 280 scholarly articles and chapters. He edited Volume 1, on "Theoretical models of human development," for the fifth edition of the Handbook of Child Psychology. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Research on Adolescence and of the new journal, Applied Developmental Science.

He 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 adolescents’ relations with their peer, family, school, and community contexts, and is a leader in the study of public policies and community-based programs aimed at the promotion of positive youth development.