Ann S. Masten

Introduction

Ann Masten, Ph.D., is a Regents Professor, Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the Institute of Child Development in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

Masten studies competence, risk, and resilience in development, with a focus on the processes leading to positive adaptation and outcomes in children and families whose lives are threatened by adversity. The goal of her work is to inform science, practice, and policy seeking to understand and promote human adaptation and resilience.

Masten directs the Project Competence Research on Risk and Resilience (PCR3), which includes studies of normative populations and high-risk young people exposed to war, natural disasters, poverty, homelessness, and migration. 

Masten’s research in Minnesota has focused on school success in homeless and other disadvantaged mobile children, with a focus on malleable protective processes, including parenting and self-regulation skills.

At the national and international level, Masten works with colleagues in multiple disciplines to understand adaptation and development, particularly in relation to migration, disasters, and war.