LIFE Outstanding Alumni Award
In 2012 LIFE received the APA Board of Educational Affairs Award to Advance Interdisciplinary Education and Training in Psychology.
It was decided to use the prize money to establish an annual award for LIFE alumni recognizing continued excellence in interdisciplinary developmental science post PhD. This early career award is focused specifically on the continued realization of the objectives of LIFE in the candidate's independent research career.
Award Winner 2025
The LIFE Outstanding Alumni Award 2025 has been bestowed on
Abigail Williams-Butler, UM alumna, now Rutgers University, USA.
She will give her Award Lecture at a ceremony during the Spring Academy 2026 at the University of Virginia.
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Previous Awardees
Thomas Talhelm, UVA alumnus, now University of Chicago, USA
Award Lecture at the Spring Academy 2025 at the University of Michigan:
Collectivism Isn’t What People Think It Is: A Study of 100 Cultures
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Christopher R. Beam, UVA alumnus, now University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Award Lecture at the Spring Academy 2024 at the University of Virginia:
Reviving the Louisville Twin Study: From Infant Development to Adult Cognition
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Alvin Thomas, UM alumnus, now University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2023 at the University of Michigan:
Where They Dare Not Roam: Positive Child Development, Fatherhood, and Contexts
Matthew D. Lerner, UVA alumnus, now Stony Brook University, USA
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2022 at the University of Virginia:
Rethinking Social Competence Across the Spectrum and the Lifespan
Jessica A. Bernard, UM alumna, now A&M Texas University, USA
Award Lecture at the Virtual Spring Academy at the University of Michigan:
Shaky Scaffolding: Cerebellar Structure, Networks, and Function in Aging
Marie Hennecke, UZH alumna, now University of Siegen, Germany
Award Lecture at Fall Academy 2021 at the University of Zurich:
Many Goals Lead to Rome: The Role of Regulatory Flexibility for Self-Control in Daily Life
Gizem Hülür, HU alumna, now Universität Bonn, Germany
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2019 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Cognitive and Psychosocial Aging: Emerging Potentials and Challenges
Igor Grossmann, UM alumnus, now University of Waterloo, Canada
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2018 at the MPI for Human Development, Berlin:
Wisdom as a Meta-Cognitive Framework for Sound Judgment: Measurement, Ecology, and the Self
Elliot Tucker-Drob, UVA alumnus, now University of Texas at Austin, USA
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2017 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Gene–Environment Interplay and Lifespan Psychological Development
Cristine H. Legare, UM alumna, now University of Texas at Austin, USA
Award Lecture at Spring Academy 2016 at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville:
The Ontogeny of Cultural Learning
Natalie Ebner, MPIB alumna, now University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
Award lecture at the Spring Academy 2015 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Social and Emotional Aging: A Neurobehavioral Analysis
K. Paige Harden, UVA alumna, now University of Texas at Austin, USA
Award lecture at the Spring Academy 2014 at the University of Virgina, Charlottesville:
The Development of Risk-Taking in Adolescence
Nilam Ram, UVA alumnus, now Stanford University, USA
Award lecture at the Spring Academy 2013 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Time-Oriented Design and Data Analysis: Playing With New Mediums
