2014 Helen Bull Vandervort Award Recipient
Lauri Miller Brotman '86
After graduating from the College of Human Ecology, Laurie Miller Brotman ’86 completed her doctorate in Clinical Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University, funded by the National Institute for Mental Health. She joined the faculty at Columbia in 1993 and has been a tenured faculty member at NYU School of Medicine since 1998. Dr. Brotman holds the Bezos Family Foundation Professorship in Early Childhood Development and is Professor of Population Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychiatry. She is the Director of the Center for Early Childhood Health and Development (CEHD) in the Division of Health and Behavior in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center. Under Dr. Brotman’s direction, CEHD is a leader in national efforts to reduce the achievement gap and health disparities for vulnerable children.
Over the past 15 years, Dr. Brotman and CEHD faculty developed and tested ParentCorps, a family-centered, school-based program to engage families and promote high-quality learning environments for young children. Rigorous studies provide a solid evidentiary foundation for impact on family engagement, early learning environments, and children’s learning, behavior and health. Dr. Brotman is leading efforts to ensure that early childhood programs serving vulnerable children include high-quality programming and supports for families. At NYU, Dr. Brotman serves as a volunteer member of the School of Medicine’s Committee on Appointments and Promotions, the Community Engagement and Population Health Research Faculty Steering Committee of the Clinical Translational Science Institute, and the Coordinating Council of the NYULMC’s Community Service Plan. Dr. Brotman served on the board of directors of the Society for Prevention Research and Free Arts NYC.
Dr. Brotman earned a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell. She was a member of the Omicron Nu Honor Society and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and graduated With Distinction in 1986. Dr. Brotman served as a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and she completed an internship at the Heathland School for autistic children in London, England as part of the study abroad program. Dr. Brotman was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. In 2009, Dr. Brotman was awarded the Society for Prevention Research Community, Culture, and Prevention Science Award and was named to the YWCA Academy of Women Leaders. Dr. Brotman was elected to the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society in 1990.