Center for Human Potential and Public Policy

Advancing Research and Training on Achievement, Health and Well-Being Across the Lifespan

About Us

The Center for Human Potential and Public Policy, which was founded in 1998 with an endowment from the Irving B. Harris Foundation, is a university-based center that promotes trans-disciplinary research and training on achievement, health, and well-being across the lifespan. The Center is located within the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. In the University of Chicago tradition, the Center encourages innovative research on human potential and public policy that transcends the academic disciplines. The Center thus has three cross-cutting program areas cultivating student and faculty research across a broad spectrum of interests at the Harris School and the University. The Center also has an active training program for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. The research and training activities of the Center are motivated by the goal of understanding the human condition from pre-birth to old age and identifying the public policies and technologies that support achievement, health, and well-being across the lifespan.

 

News and Announcements

  • Congratulations to CHPPP Dissertation Fellow, Javaeria Qureshi, who accepted a faculty position in the Economics Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  • CHPPP held Fourth Annual Lecture on Science, Technology & Society on December 1, 2011, focusing on the science and policy of obesity.  Video of event available here.
  • Congratulations to CHPPP Doctoral Student, Jorge Ugaz, who will begin work as a Specialist at Abt Associates in January, examining family planning, HIV, and maternal and child health products and services in the developing world.
  • CHPPP Dissertation Fellow, Javaeria Qureshi, was awarded third place for her poster at the 2011 APPAM Fall Research Conference.
  • CHPPP Dissertation Fellow, Chloe Gibbs, was selected as a 2011-12 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation dissertation fellow.
  • Congratulations to the CHPPP 2011 Dissertation and Pre-Dissertation Fellows: Chloe Hutchinson-Gibbs; Javaeria Qureshi, Maria Fernanda Rosales Rueda; and Alejandro Ome!
  • Professor Ariel Kalil's research on the effect of parental unemployment on children featured in article "The Great Recession Could Reduce School Achievement for Children of Unemployed," ScienceDaily, August 30, 2011.
  • CHPPP director, Professor Ariel Kalil, received a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation's initiative examining the social effects of the Great Recession for her project, “The Great Recession and Married Parents' Use of Time.”
  • CHPPP director, Professor Ariel Kalil, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation grant on impact of childhood housing instability on long-term health and educational outcomes.
  • January 30-February 2, 2011, CHPPP held a jointly-sponsored conference with the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia, titled "Advancing Child and Family Policy Through Research." The conference included paper presentations by leading researchers and policymakers in the United States and Australia. A volume of conference papers will be edited by Ariel Kalil, Ron Haskins, and Jenny Chesters and will be published by the Brookings Institute in 2012.
  • CHPPP predoctoral fellow, Arianna Zanolini, was a visiting student at the University of California, Berkeley.  She worked with Professors Lia Fernald and Paul Gertler on research in early childhood development in developing countries, including a project focused on the role of maternal aspirations in shaping child cognitive development in Mexico.
  • CHPPP receives funding from the Australian Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workforce Relations to support joint conference with the Australian National University in 2011 in Canberra focused on advancing child and family policy through research.
  • CHPPP Doctoral Student, Jen Hao Chen, receives honorable mention for the Child and Youth Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award from the American Sociological Association for his paper, "Maternal Health Behaviors during Pregnancy, Birth Weight, and Early Non-Cognitive Skills."
  • CHPPP Doctoral Student, Jen Hao Chen, receives prestigious American Educational Research Association (AERA) Dissertation Grant for his dissertation, "Healthy Start, Growing Smart: Health and the Development of Academic and Behavioral Skills in Early Childhood."  With funding from the National Science Foundation, the award is intended to stimulate research on US education issues and to support advanced doctoral students with education-related dissertation proposals.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow, Jane Leber Herr, visits National Poverty Center during the week of April 5th as part of the Center's Postdoctoral Exchange Program with the NPC.
  • Congratulations to our four Pre-Dissertation/Dissertation awardees: Harris School PhD students, April Wu, Jen Hao Chen, Arianna Zanolini, and Ana Sofia Leon Lince.
  • CHPPP director, Ariel Kalil, discusses her research on the impact of parental unemployment on children in front-page article in the  New York Times: "Job Woes Exacting a Toll on Family Life," New York Times, November 11, 2009.
  • Center co-sponsored panel discussion on youth violence among school-aged children on November 3, 2009 at the Harris School.
  • Center held Third Annual Science, Technology & Society Lecture on October 22, 2009 with keynote by Dr. Heidi Schweingruber on the state of science education on a local and national level.
  • Aaron Sojourner, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Resources and Industrial Relation, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, will spend the week of October 25th as a CHPPP Distinguished Scholar in Residence.  During his time in residence, Sojourner and Assistant Professor Amy Claessens will begin collaborating on research focused on early childhood education and care and child development.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Amy Claessens appointed as Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Rebecca Ryan appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Georgetown University.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Amy Claessens spent ten weeks as a policy intern at the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations with a specific focus on child care policy.
  • CHPPP Doctoral Student Patrick Wightman awarded MacArthur Foundation Network on Transitions to Adulthood Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Poverty Center, University of Michigan. He will be working on a project entitled "Parental Assistance and Adult Transitions."
  • CHPPP director's letter to the editor about the devaluation of older workers' experience published in the New York Times: "A Life's Work, Devalued," New York Times, April 26, 2009.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Amy Claessen's research on early child behavior problems and educational achievement featured on the New American Foundation blog: "Some New and Surprising Links Between Early Skills and Later Academic Success," The Early Ed Watch blog, April 3, 2009.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Jane Leber Herr on highly educated mothers in the labor force: "Why do highly educated mothers opt out of the labour force?," VoxEU.org, March 31, 2009.
  • Center director, Professor Ariel Kalil, gives talk at the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations of the Australian Government on the links between parental nonstandard work schedules (working evenings/nights, weekends or an irregular shift), marital instability, and children’s well-being in the United States. (pdf)
  • Center sponsors new student group of future leaders in child and family policy. The new group will provide networking and internship opportunities in child and family policy for Harris School students and will also be engaged in outreach efforts in the community.
  • Professor Robert W. Fairlie gives second Annual Lecture on Science, Technology & Society - November 20, 2008
  • Center Affiliates Ofer Malamud and Ioana Marinescu awarded CHPPP Faculty Development Awards for 2008-2009.
  • Ofer Malamud’s research supported by CHPPP Faculty Development Award on the Effects of Computer Use on Academic Achievement cited in Slate: "The $100 Distraction Device" Slate, June 5, 2008.
  • Ariel Kalil recently visited Australia to make research connections on behalf of the Center and develop plans for exchange programs for the Center’s postdoctoral fellows and affiliated graduate students to spend time in Australian government policy departments focused on social policies with which the Center is concerned. While she was there, she was interviewed on the national radio station of Australia, the ABC. Listen to the interview.
  • CHPPP Postdoctoral Fellow Lindsey Leininger awarded prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship
  • Center becomes home to Harpel Initiative to Improve Educational Outcomes in Brazil
Calendar Highlights

Join CHPPP Listserve:
https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/chppp-campus-active

Contact Information
General Inquiries
Email: chppp@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-702-3402
Fax: 773-702-5559

Director
Ariel Kalil, Ph.D.
Email: akalil@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-834-2090
Web: Ariel Kalil - Faculty Webpage

Associate Director
Laurel Joy Spindel, M.A., M.A.P.P.
Email: ljspinde@uchicago.edu
Phone: 773-702-3402


Program Assistant/LCFP Student Group Facilitator
Christy Serrano
Email: achristyserrano@uchicago.edu


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