Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development

History of the Applied Developmental Science Institute

In 1997, Joan Margosian Bergstrom, her husband, Gary Bergstrom, and their son Craig established the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science. The chair, which underscores the Bergstroms' commitment to improving the lives and education of children and their families, is the first endowed professorship at Tufts University's Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development and was established to improve the lives of children and families nationally and internationally through scholarship in applied developmental science, an interdisciplinary field that integrates sociocultural, cognitive, and biological processes affecting learning and development across the life span. The work of the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science is intended to focus on innovative research and teaching that covers the social, cultural, and biological factors affecting a child's ability to learn and develop. Richard M. Lerner was the first recipient of the chair.

As part of his work as chair, Lerner began a set of initiatives in 1999 designed to use the application of developmental science to promote positive development among diverse children, families, and communities. In December 2001, as a reflection of the sustained commitment by Eliot-Pearson and Tufts to the scholarship [Page 590]of Lerner and the initiatives, the name was officially changed to the Applied Developmental Science Institute (ADSI). In April 2004, the institute underwent another name change and became the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, a name which more clearly reflects the core work of the institute. Despite the name changes, the goal of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development has always remained the same: to empower communities to raise healthy, engaged young people in ways that will be sustainable over time. Having started with only one faculty member, two staff people, and two graduate students, the institute has grown to include, at this writing, 10 staff people, 17 graduate students, and 12 undergraduate students.

Activities

The work of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development involves research, community outreach, and education.