Dante Cicchetti, the Shirley Cox Kearns Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, will receive the prestigious G. Stanley Hall Award for Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Psychology by the American Psychological Association (APA) this summer. The award will be given “in recognition of his extraordinary contributions in developmental psychology and children’s mental health, as he forged the integrative science of developmental psychopathology,” said the announcement by the APA.
Cicchetti’s numerous books and publications are considered groundbreaking in the field and of high scientific merit. He is the founder and editor of the journal Development and Psychopathology, which is among the most highly cited with regard to scientific impact in all developmental journals. As noted by the APA, “. . . Cicchetti has profoundly influenced theory, research, training and practice in multiple disciplines. . . .” As the youngest recipient ever to receive this award, Cicchetti joins past legendary G. Stanley Hall Award recipients such as Jean Piaget, Edward Zigler, Erik Erikson, and Sir Michael Rutter—all having made exceptional and lasting contributions to the field of psychology.
In 1977, Cicchetti completed his doctorate in the fields of clinical psychology and child development at the University of Minnesota. In that same year, he began teaching at Harvard University and was awarded the first non-tenured named chair in the history of the university, the Norman Tishman Associate Professor of Psychology. In 1985, Cicchetti joined the faculty of the University of Rochester as associate professor of psychology and psychiatry, earned a professorship in 1987, and in 2000 became the Shirley Cox Kearns Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics. Cicchetti is also the director of Mt. Hope Family Center in Rochester.
Cicchetti’s awards and accomplishments are many, including the Young Scholars Award in Social and Affective Development from the Foundation for Child Development (1982), the Boyd McCandless Award for Early Career Contributions to Developmental Psychology from Division 7 of the APA (1983), the Nicholas Hobbs Award from Division 37 of the APA for Significant Contributions to Child Advocacy and Social Policy, the Division 12 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Clinical Psychology (1999), and most recently the APA Senior Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (2004).
Cicchetti will receive the G. Stanley Hall Award in August at the APA annual convention in Washington, D.C.