Curry School of Education

Education

• Ph.D., University of Tennessee, 1983
• M.A., University of Tennessee, 1980
• B.A., Temple University, 1978

Personal Statement

As director of Youth-Nex, Dr. Tolan champions the center’s mission to promote healthy youth development and reduce developmental risk through devoted and focused research, training and service.

Youth-Nex is a University-wide nexus for innovation and translation from research to practice. It is the only center in the country accommodating work on diverse aspects of youth development including mental health, educational functioning, citizenship, social functioning and physical health.

Biography and Research Interests

Prior to assuming this role in 2010, Dr. Tolan was director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois in Chicago, where he was also Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health and is currently Professor Emeritus. He conducts programmatic research on child mental health and other developmental issues particularly related to the promotion of health development and the prevention of risk. With over 140 articles and chapters and six books, Dr. Tolan is a frequent contributor to the scientific literature on children’s mental health and a leader in advancing the application of research to practices. His writings include Children’s mental health as a primary care and concern: A system for comprehensive support and service, published in 2005 in the American Psychologist. Dr. Tolan was chair of the American Psychological Association’s Working Group on Children’s Mental Health (1999-2001) and is a member of several commissions and boards related to youth development including the Blueprints for Violence Prevention, a project of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.