Ann Mast

Ann S. Masten is the Regents Professor of Child Development at the Institute of Child Development, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1982 and her A.B. cum laude from Smith College in 1973, majoring in psychology and English. Masten's distinguished career at the University of Minnesota includes positions as Assistant Professor (1986-1991), Associate Professor (1991-1996), Professor (1996-present), Director of the Institute of Child Development (1999-2005), Irving B. Harris Professor in Child Development (2013-present), Distinguished McKnight University Professor (2003-present), and Regents Professor (2014-present). She has held adjunct appointments in the Department of Psychology and served as a clinical child psychologist at Wilder Child Guidance Clinic.

Masten's research specializes in competence, risk, and resilience processes in human development, examining adaptation in children and families facing adversity including poverty, homelessness, migration, war, and disasters. She directs the Project Competence studies on risk and resilience. Her influential contributions include the book Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development (Guilford Press, 2014), editor of Multilevel Dynamics in Developmental Psychopathology: Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology Vol. 34 (Erlbaum, 2007), and highly cited articles such as Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity (Development and Psychopathology, 1990), Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development (American Psychologist, 2001), and Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth (Child Development, 2014). Masten has received major honors including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2021), Urie Bronfenbrenner Award (APA, 2014), President’s Award for Outstanding Service (University of Minnesota, 2012), and presidency of the Society for Research in Child Development (2009). Her work has profoundly impacted resilience science, informing policy and practice worldwide.

Professional Email: amasten@umn.edu