Mary Reckmeyer, Ph.D.

Mary Reckmeyer, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of Gallup's Donald O. Clifton Child Development Center. Under Reckmeyer's design and leadership, the center has received national attention for excellence in early childhood education, workplace contribution, and developmental results. She developed the center more than 25 years ago, and it has now helped thousands of children build their lives around their strengths. The center has served as a model for schools nationwide and as a training center for teacher development and education.

Reckmeyer has been with Gallup for more than 30 years, and during that time she has also served as an Educational and Strengths-Based Development Consultant and Seminar Leader. She has studied talent-based interviews of more than 2,000 individuals, including children, teachers, and parents. She researched and helped create the Clifton StrengthsExplorer, an assessment designed to identify talent in young people. Reckmeyer also coauthored How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids, based on the #1 New York Times bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket?, a nonfiction classic that has been adopted in homes and classrooms around the world. She has studied outstanding schools and conducted formal research into what makes an outstanding child care center.

Reckmeyer has served on nonprofit boards of directors, state advisory boards, and scholarship selection committees for granting agencies. She has also been involved in local volunteer organizations, parent/teacher associations, and youth athletic programs. Reckmeyer is a former preschool and elementary school teacher who holds degrees in educational psychology and education. Her research focus is on youth strengths development, parents of minority achieving students, learning disabilities, educational programming, and lifespan development.

Reckmeyer studied at the University of Texas and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She and her husband, Matt, live in Lincoln, Nebraska, and have four children.

Her latest book, "Strengths Based Parenting," addresses these and other questions on parents' minds. But unlike many parenting books, Strengths Based Parenting focuses on identifying and understanding what your children are naturally good at and where they thrive — not on their weaknesses. The book also helps you uncover your own innate talents and effectively apply them to your individual parenting style.