Urie Bronfenbrenner ’38 was a developmental psychologist who transformed the study of human development and connected research and theory to public policy to improve the lives of children and families.

Bronfenbrenner is most well-known for developing the ecological model of human development, which posits that an individual’s development involves interactions between the individual and the contexts in which they live – their family, the family’s place in their neighborhood and community, that community’s place, and macrosystem factors like social policy, the legal system and economic trends.

He later identified the kernel of the theory in his own childhood, growing up at Letchworth Village, a residential institution for mentally and physically disabled people where his father was a clinical pathologist. He saw how quickly otherwise healthy children would decline after being committed to the institution, and how adult residents thrived once they were given meaningful work. 

Bronfenbrenner studied psychology and music at Cornell and then received a master’s degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In 1948, he returned to Cornell as an assistant professor in human development and family studies and psychology. He began conducting field research in different cultural contexts, first in Francophone Nova Scotia and then, beginning in the 1960s, in the former Soviet Union, Israel and other countries. These experiences changed the way he thought about human development. 

“Seen in different contexts, human nature, which I had previously thought of as a singular noun, became plural and pluralistic,” Bronfenbrenner later wrote. “The process and product of making human beings human clearly varied by place and time.”

Working in different societies, Bronfenbrenner also saw the impact of public policy on people’s lives. He began contributing to efforts to develop policies that could help children and their families. In 1964, he testified before Congress that investment in high-quality early childhood education should be part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. He joined the Head Start Planning Committee the following year, and later served on two presidential task forces and numerous scientific advisory groups. 

Bronfenbrenner published The Ecology of Human Development In 1979, formalizing his groundbreaking theory. That theoretical model transformed the way many social and behavioral scientists approached the study of human beings and their environments. It led to new directions in basic research and to applications in the design of programs and policies affecting the well-being of children and families both in the United States and abroad. 

In 1996 he received the first American Psychological Association Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the service of Science and Society. This award is now given in his name. 

Bronfenbrenner’s legacy also lives on through the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research in the College of Human Ecology, which consolidated two earlier centers in 2011 and works to translate research findings to develop innovative interventions, practices and policies to improve human health and well-being.