Ross Thompson, Ph.D.

• Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis

Ross Thompson, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. His work focuses on early personality and socio-emotional development in the context of close relationships, an interest that contributes to the cross-disciplinary field of developmental relational science.

He has worked on the applications of developmental science to multiple public policies concerning children and families, including divorce and child custody, child maltreatment, grandparent visitation rights, and research ethics. He serves on the boards of Zero to Three, NIEER (the National Institute for Early Education Research), and Wondertime magazine, has served twice as Associate Editor of Child Development, was a Senior National Institute of Mental Health Fellow in Law and Psychology at Stanford University, and served on the Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development for the National Academy of Sciences that produced From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development.

He received the Boyd McCandless Award from the American Psychological Association, and the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award from the University of Nebraska, where he was also a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

He earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan.