Ann Masten

Ann S. Masten, Ph.D., LP, is a Regents Professor and the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. She grew up in the military and graduated from Smith College. After three years at NIH, she completed doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of Minnesota with an internship at UCLA. In 1986, she joined the faculty in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, chairing this department from 1999 to 2005. Professor Masten’s research focuses on understanding processes that promote competence and prevent problems in human development, with a focus on resilience in the context of high cumulative risk, adversity, and trauma. She directs the Project Competence Research on Risk and Resilience, including studies of normative populations and high-risk children and families exposed to homelessness, war, natural disasters, poverty, migration, and related adversities. Dr. Masten has authored more than 200 publications, including the 2014 book, Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development, published by Guilford Press. She co-chaired the Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally for the U.S. National Academies, while also serving on their Board on Children, Youth, and Families. She has served as President of the Society for Research in Child Development and President of Division 7 (Developmental) of the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2014, she received the Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contributions to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society from APA. Dr. Masten regularly offers an international MOOC (mass open online course) on “Resilience in Children Exposed to Trauma, Disaster and War: Global Perspectives.”