This award was created in 2010 to honour a Canadian who has made outstanding contributions to developmental psychology in the areas of leadership, mentorship, and scholarship.
In 2011, this award was given to Dr. Richard Tremblay, in recognition of his contributions to developmental psychology in all of these areas. At the Pickering Centre’s innaugural research day in November 2011, we took the opportunity to recognize his extensive influence to our field and through it, his influence on children.
Leadership: As director of the GRIP – the research group on psycho-social maladjustment – Dr. Tremblay has created a research milieu that is wonderfully collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and productive. This research group is now word-renowned, and Dr. Tremblay’s advice sought internationally.
As director of the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD), he has ensured that the mandate of the centre, that is, the dissemination of scientific knowledge, be accomplished in novel and efficient ways. For example, he was the founding editor of the Encyclopedia of early childhood development (http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/en-ca/home.html). The encyclopedia, developed for policy-makers, practitioners and parent, is a compilation of papers from leading experts that covers 47 topics related to the social and emotional development of young children, from conception to age five. The encyclopedia is available in French and English. Through Richard’s collaboration with agencies in Chile and Brazil, it is now available in Spanish and Portuguese.
Mentorship: Richard has supervised, encouraged, and inspired in many ways an impressive group of students, that is, he has supervised or co-supervised 35 MAs, 19 PhDs, and 46 post-docs – many of which have become colleagues. With students, fellows, and colleagues alike, Richard adopts the perspective that everyone has a contribution to make, and most importantly, that data collected by himself or his team are to advance knowledge, and as such are to be shared.
Scholarship: Through his longitudinal research, Richard has contributed to our understanding of children’s social emotional development in general and to our understanding of children at risk of behavioral disorders, in particular. Dr. Tremblay’s impressive curriculum vitae includes 392 peer-reviewed articles, 40 book chapters, and 14 edited or co-edited books.
Of course, Richard would be the first to argue that these accomplishments are the result of collaborative endeavors. We contend, however, that these accomplishments might not have seen the light of day without Richard’s vision and leadership. Thus, we were very pleased to award Richard Tremblay the Pickering Award for outstanding contribution to developmental psychology in Canada.