A Worldwide Leading Authority
Peter L. Benson, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is one of the world’s leading authorities on positive human development. He weaves together rigorous scholarship with a passionate commitment to understanding and influencing society to be more attentive to children and adolescents. His insight, vision, and passion have made him a widely sought speaker, writer, and consultant for major national and international events and policy initiatives.
In addition to an M.A. and Ph.D. in experimental social psychology, with a concentration in child development, from the University of Denver, Dr. Benson has also earned an M.A. from Yale in the scientific study of religion. Prior to joining Search Institute as a research scientist in 1978, he was the chair of the psychology department at Earlham College and co-founder of the Program in Human Development and Social Relations.
Dr. Benson’s international reputation in human development emerged in the 1990s through his innovative, research-based framework of Developmental Assets, the most widely recognized approach to positive youth development in the United States and, increasingly, around the world. His vision, research, and public voice have inspired a sea change in research, practice, and policy. Dr. Benson’s work has inspired and guided more than 600 community-based initiatives in 45 states and every Canadian province, and on six continents. The approach has been embraced by most national youth-serving systems and is embedded in the curriculum in numerous colleges and universities. It influences state and national public policy in education, juvenile justice, public health, substance abuse prevention, and other youth-related fields.
Dr. Benson continues to break new ground in the study of human development. Most recently, he has focused on conceptualizing a new understanding of thriving. He is also the principal investigator and co-director for Search Institute’s Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, which seeks to advance knowledge, practice, and international interest in this important, but neglected, domain of human development.
An Accomplished Author
Dr. Benson is the author of more than 100 articles and chapters in scientific journals and edited books. He has published in Developmental Psychology, The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, The Journal of Adolescence, The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, The Journal of Community Psychology, The Journal of Social Issues, The Journal of Primary Prevention, and Applied Developmental Science. He is the lead author on the first-ever chapter on youth development in the prestigious Handbook of Child Psychology (6th edition, 2006). He served as guest editor of the July, 2008 edition of New Directions for Youth Development. With Peter Scales, he has recently authored a major article on the theory and measurement of adolescent thriving for The Journal of Positive Psychology (2009).
As well as serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Community Psychology and New Directions for Youth Development, Dr. Benson is editor-in-chief of a book series for Springer titled the Search Institute Series on Developmentally-Attentive Community and Society. He serves as a columnist for Youth Today.
He is the author (or editor) of 15 books published by Jossey-Bass, Harper Collins, Springer, Kluwer, Templeton Press, and Sage. His What Kids Need to Succeed has sold more than 800,000 copies. All Kids are Our Kids, now in its second edition, establishes the scientific base for the taxonomy of Developmental Assets. His book on adolescent thriving, Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers, was published in October, 2008 by Jossey-Bass. Vision was published in May, 2009 by the Templeton Foundation Press. His latest book, Parent, Teacher, Mentor, Friend: How Every Adult Can Change Kids’ Lives, will be published by Search Institute Press in fall 2010.
An Experienced Researcher
Dr. Benson has served as principal investigator on more than thirty research projects funded by HHS, NIMH, the U.S. Department of Education, the Lilly Endowment, Thrive Foundation for Youth, and the John Templeton, Ford, Kellogg, W.T. Grant, McKnight, Case Family, Colorado Trust, Kansas Health, Seattle, Minneapolis, Cargill, 3M, Best Buy, and AOL Time Warner Foundations. He serves on numerous boards and commissions, including America’s Promise, the John Templeton Foundation, and the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families. He is a Senior Fellow in the School of Social Work at Baylor University, and a Trustee of Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
In 1990, Dr. Benson was elected a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. In 1989, he received the prestigious William James Award for career contributions to the scientific study of religion. In 2004, he was selected as the Distinguished Youth Development Scholar by Tufts University, Boston. From 2001-2003, he served as Visiting Scholar at the W.T. Grant Foundation in New York City.
A Family Man
Dr. Benson is married to Tunie Munson-Benson, a nationally recognized expert in children’s literature and literacy. They have two children, Liv and Kai, and two grandsons, Ryder and Truman.
