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Kenneth Dodge receives Lifetime Contribution Award from APA

By Sarah Brantley // November 14, 2025

The American Psychological Association (APA) has announced it will award Kenneth Dodge, the Urie Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society. The award, given by Division 7 of the American Psychological Association (APA), recognizes an individual whose work, over a lifetime career, has contributed not only to the science of developmental psychology, but also to the practical application of developmental psychology to society.

Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Studies and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke. He is also the founding and past director of the Center for Child and Family Policy, as well as the founder of Family Connects International. 

Ken Dodge presenting
Kenneth Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Studies and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke.

Dodge is known for his impactful research in early childhood development, specifically in the development and prevention of aggressive and violent behaviors. His work provides a model for understanding how some young children grow up to engage in aggression and violence and provides a framework for intervening early to prevent the costly consequences of violence for children and their communities. 

In realizing the developmental origins of children’s chronic aggressive behavior, Dodge created and tested an early-life intervention to prevent child abuse called Family Connects. The model is now an evidence-based program and independent nonprofit organization that supports families in communities across the United States. 

Dodge has published more than 600 scientific articles which have been cited more than 180,000 times. 

Interim Dean Manoj Mohanan of the Sanford School of Public Policy highlighted the importance of the award and research. “Dr. Dodge is most deserving of the Urie Bronfenbrenner award, recognizing not only the excellence of his entire body of research but the tremendous impact of his efforts putting that knowledge to work.”

“I am incredibly honored to receive the Urie Bronfenbrenner Award,” said Dodge. “To try to follow in his footsteps is both humbling and inspiring.”

Dodge has received many honors for his work, including membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation's Outstanding Achievement Prize in Mental Health, the J.P. Scott award for lifetime contributions to aggression research, a senior scientist award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a research scientist award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Dodge is currently spending the year working on his next book in residence at Stanford University as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

The lifetime award will be presented at the APA Annual Convention in August 2026. 

I am incredibly honored to receive the Urie Bronfenbrenner Award. To try to follow in his footsteps is both humbling and inspiring."

Kenneth Dodge

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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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