Dr.  Robert Laird is Professor in the Department of Human Development and Families Studies and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. His specific research interests focus on family and peer relationship contributions to children’s development of social and behavioral competencies and he has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers appearing in such journals as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and the Journal of Adolescence. He also has served as Associate Editor of Developmental Psychology and on grant proposal review panels for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. The National Science Foundation and the W. T. Grant Foundation have funded his recent research projects.
 
Dr. Laird earned a B.S. in Psychology from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. in Family and Child Development from Auburn University. He participated in the Developmental Psychopathology Post-Doctoral training program in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Laird served on the faculty at the University of Rhode Island, Louisiana State University, and the University of New Orleans before joining the University of Alabama to Chair the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. In his role as Associate Dean, Dr. Laird provides leadership to advance the research mission of the College of Human Environmental Sciences.