Two ICD alumni receive CEHD Distinguished Alumni Awards

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) recently celebrated its 2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards with a ceremony to recognize the achievements of 13 alumni, including two from ICD. Maureen O'Brien (PhD '91) and Jamie Ostrov (PhD '04) were both recipients of the award this year. 

Maureen O'Brien

Dr. Maureen O’Brien is a developmental psychologist whose passions include child development, parenting education, and family support. She has particular interests in infancy and toddlerhood and the unique journey of parenting multiples. In her 25-year career, she has worked in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to promote strong parent-child relationships. To that end, she co-directed the Brazelton Touchpoints Center at Children’s Hospital of Boston, has consulted with numerous juvenile product companies, and is the author of four parenting books. 

“Dr. Mo,” as she is known, is the founder of Destination Parenting, through which she coaches parents, caregivers and childcare organizations how to feel competent and confident in the face of typical child milestones and dilemmas.  Her website, DestinationParenting.com, is similarly dedicated to providing information and resources to parents and those who work with them. She has written widely on parenting topics for publications such as American Baby and Twins Magazine, and has extensive media experience in radio and television. Maureen has a PhD in child and developmental psychology, and is the proud parent of adult twin sons.

Jamie Ostrov

Dr. Jamie Ostrov is a Professor of Psychology, Area Head, and Director of Clinical Training in the Clinical Psychology program at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. As a developmental psychologist, Jamie’s research focuses on understanding the development and prevention of subtypes of aggression and peer victimization in young children. He is currently testing a NIH-funded, teacher-implemented clinical trial of his social skills program for reducing aggression and bullying behaviors among young children. 

To date, Jamie has received over $10 million dollars in federal funding and has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. He is the co-editor of The Development of Relational Aggression, a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and former elected treasurer and council member for the International Society for Research on Aggression. Staying true to his PhD from the Institute of Child Development, he believes in “giving away” child development knowledge. For example, he assisted the Children’s Television Workshop (producers of Sesame Street) with their bullying prevention programming, and was an expert panelist for the CDC and US Department of Education’s Uniform Definition of Bullying.

Congratulations from ICD!