Life of urie bronfenbrenner

American psychologist

Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917, Moscow – September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American psychologist best known for using a contextual framework to better understand human development. This framework, broadly referred to as 'ecological systems theory', was formalized in an article published in American Psychologist, articulated in a series of propositions and hypotheses in his most cited book, The Ecology of Human Development and further developed in The Bioecological Model of Human Development and later writings. He argued that natural experiments and applied developmental interventions provide valuable scientific opportunities. These beliefs were exemplified in his involvement in developing the US Head Start program in 1965. Bronfenbrenner's writings about the limitations of understanding child development solely from experimental laboratory research and the potential for using contextual variability to provide insight into developmental processes was important in changing the focus of developmental psychology.

Early life and education

Bronfenbrenner was born in Moscow on April 29, 1917, to Russian Jewish parents, the pathologist Alexander Bronfenbrenner and Eugenie Kamenetski. When he was six, his family moved to the United States, first to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then a year later to rural New York State. His father worked as a neuropathologist at a hospital for the developmentally disabled called Letchworth Village, located in Rockland County, N.Y.

Bronfenbrenner received a bachelor's in psychology and music from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1938. He earned a master's in education from Harvard in 1940, and a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan in 1942.^[11

Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005) was a renowned Russian-born Americanpsychologist, known for his work in child development. Bronfenbrenner was one of the first psychologists to adopt a holistic perspective on human development, developing his Ecological Systems Theory which had a widespread influence on the way psychologists and other social scientists approach the study of human beings and their environments.

Bronfenbrenner emphasized the importance of the social environments in which children are raised, and saw the breakdown of the family as leading to the ever growing rates of alienation, apathy, rebellion, delinquency, and violence among American youth. His work led to new directions in research and in the design of programs and policies affecting the well-being of children and families.

Life

Urie Bronfenbrenner was born on April 29, 1917 in Moscow, Russia, as the son of Dr. Alexander Bronfenbrenner and Eugenie Kamenetski Bronfenbrenner. When Urie was 6, his family moved to the United States. After a brief stay in Pittsburgh, they settled in Letchworth Village, the home of the New York State Institution for the Mentally Retarded, where his father worked as a clinical pathologist and research director.

After his graduation from Haverstraw High School, Bronfenbrenner attended Cornell University, where he completed a double major in psychology and music in 1938. He went on to graduate work in developmental psychology, completing an M.A. at Harvard University, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1942. Twenty-four hours after receiving his doctorate he was inducted into the Army, where he served as a psychologist in a variety of assignments for the Army Air Corps and the Office of Strategic Services. After completing officer training he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Immediately after World War II, Bronfenbrenner worked briefly as Assistant Chief Clinical Psychologist for Administration and Research

PIONEERS

Larry K. Brendtro

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) was a pioneer in studying the behavior of children in their natural life space of family, school, peer group, and community. His concept of the ecology of human development is transforming practice for effective work with children and youth. Bronfenbrenner’s research highlights the power of human relationships to propel children on pathways to problematic or positive life outcomes.

World-renowned child psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner was Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Psychology at Cornell University at the time of his death September 26, 2005 at age 88. He was the author, co-author, or editor of more than 300 articles and chapters and 14 books exploring the field he created, the ecology of human development. Outside of his profession, he is best known as co-founder of the Head Start program which has touched millions of children of poverty.

Urie Bronfenbrenner was born in Moscow, Russia, on April 29, 1917, and came to the United States with his family at age six. His father was a physician in a New York institution for the developmentally disabled. Young Urie was deeply influenced by seeing his father’s frustration when the juvenile courts consigned healthy children to the institution. This early interest would lead him to become a scholar on the child and family in various cultures (Bronfenbrenner, 1970). Urie and his wife of 63 years had ample opportunity to put these principles into practice as parents of six children.

After earning a doctorate from the University 0f Michigan in 1942 at the age of 25, Urie entered the army. He was assigned to a secret hideout near Washington, DC. With some of the great psychological minds in the world, including Kurt Lewin, Urie evaluated candidates for secret duty. In 1948, he joined the faculty of Corn

Urie Bronfenbrenner, a co-founder of the national Head Start program and widely regarded as one of the world's leading scholars in developmental psychology, child-rearing and human ecology – the interdisciplinary domain he created – died at his home in Ithaca, N.Y., Sept. 25 due to complications from diabetes. He was 88.

At his death, Bronfenbrenner was the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human Development and of Psychology at Cornell University, where he spent most of his professional career. A memorial service organized by his family is planned for Saturday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall auditorium. A service for the Cornell community will be announced at a later time.

Bronfenbrenner's ideas and his ability to translate them into operational research models and effective social policies spurred the creation in 1965 of Head Start, the federal child development program for low-income children and their families. In 1979 Bronfenbrenner further developed his thinking into the groundbreaking theory on the ecology of human development. That theoretical model transformed the way many social and behavioral scientists approached the study of human beings and their environments. It led to new directions in basic research and to applications in the design of programs and policies affecting the well-being of children and families both in the United States and abroad.

His research also furthered the goals of Cornell's Life Course Institute, which was renamed the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Institute in 1993 and is currently directed by Daniel Lichter.

He spent many of his later years warning that the process that makes human beings human is breaking down as disruptive trends in American society produce ever more chaos in the lives of America's children. "The hectic pace of modern life poses a threat to our children second only to poverty and unemployment," he said. "We are depriving millions of children – and thereby our country –