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Jennifer Lansford receives Lifetime Contribution Award from APS

By Sarah Brantley // September 28, 2026
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Jennifer Lansford, S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Research Professor of Public Policy at Duke and director of the Center for Child and Family Policy

Jennifer E. Lansford, S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Research Professor of Public Policy at Duke and director of the Center for Child and Family Policy, will be presented with a lifetime achievement award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS) at its annual conference in Seattle in May 2027. 

The James McKeen Cattell Fellow award recognizes scholars with a lifetime of significant contributions to applied psychological research and their impact on a critical problem in society at large. 

Lansford began her career at Duke University in 2000 as a research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy. She went on to become an Associate Research Professor in 2008 and was awarded the S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Research Professor of Public Policy in 2023. Dr. Lansford is a developmental psychologist whose international research has been groundbreaking in demonstrating how culture and family-level factors interact to influence human development. Her research informs scientific understanding of the etiology of health-compromising and risky behaviors from childhood to adulthood and is used to promote child wellbeing worldwide. 

Lansford leads the Parenting Across Cultures Project, the largest and most culturally diverse study of behavioral development across the life course ever. Launched in 2008, the longitudinal study follows children, mothers, and fathers from nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). She also leads a team investigating intergenerational impacts of two different interventions in the United States (unearned cash transfers and social-cognitive skill building) in which the original child participants have been followed into adulthood and are now parenting their own children.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award from APS,” said Lansford. “I am grateful for the partnership and dedication of many collaborators both in the United States and abroad for our shared commitment to improving the lives of families and children.”

Lansford has published 397 articles that have been cited more than 39,000 times.

Dean JR DeShazo of the Sanford School of Public Policy highlighted the importance of the award and research. “This honor recognizes not only Dr. Lansford’s groundbreaking contributions to the field of developmental psychology but the tremendous impact of her efforts to drive positive change in society worldwide, particularly for the well-being of children and families. This award is richly deserved.”   

Lansford has consulted for UNICEF on the evaluation of parenting programs in several countries and on the development of a set of international standards for parenting programs. She is currently editor of the International Journal of Behavioral Development and president of the Society for Research in Child Development. She is an APS Fellow and has also been named a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. 

Learn more about Sanford's Center for Child and Family Policy

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Sarah Brantley

Sarah Brantley serves as the Communications Director for the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, where she oversees strategic communications, media relations, websites, publications, and social media. She began work at Duke in 2018.

 Previously, she was a senior associate at Whiteboard Advisors, a strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC. In this role, she led communications strategy, media relations, and social media strategy on behalf of a diverse group of education clients, including an education research nonprofit, a national coalition of public research universities, higher education technology startups, and a scholarship granting organization. Prior to Whiteboard, Brantley worked for CommunicationWorks, LLC, a public affairs firm where she advised K-12 and higher ed accreditation agencies and non-profit membership organizations on traditional and digital media campaigns, drafting blogs and marketing collateral, as well as logo development and branding.

Brantley’s experience supporting early-stage organizations began when she first worked with a health IT start-up company in Arlington, Virginia, managing marketing and external relations.

Brantley earned her BA in communications at North Carolina State University. She is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Leadership’s Education Policy Fellowship Program and also holds a credential in Digital Marketing from General Assembly.

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