Judith Frances Dunn, (nee Pace, born 1939) is a British psychologist and academic, who specialises in social developmental psychology.

Early life and education

Dunn was the daughter of James Pace and Jean Stewart and was born in Hitchen,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. She studied at

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1962; as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1968. While a fellow of

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, she undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. The notion of "postgraduate" refers to studies following a undergraduate degree. Postgraduate research either occurs within ...

and she completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1982.

Academic career

From 1978 to 1986, Dunn was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

, and a Medical Research Council Senior Scientific Officer. From 1986 to 1995, she was Professor of Human Development at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. In 1994, she was made an Evan Pugh Professor; an Evan Pugh Professorship is the "highest honor the institution can give to a member of its faculty". From 1995 to 2012, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Developmental Psychology at the

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a centre for mental health and neuroscience research, education and training in Europe. It is dedicated to understanding, preventing and treating mental illness, neurological co ...

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. Dunn specializes in children's social emotional and sociocognitive development, parent-child, sibling and peer relationships, and the development of language and communication abilities.

Other work

Dunn is Chair of The Children's Society's Good Childhood Inquiry, established in 2006, which explores and measures children’s subjective well-being.

Personal life

In 1961, the then Judith Pace married Martin Gardiner Bernal, a British scholar of modern Chinese political history who also wrote the controversial '' Black Athena''. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons. They later divorced. From 1973 to 1987, she was married to John Montfort Dunn, a British political theorist, before they too divorced. In 1987, she married the American psychologist Robert Plomin.

Honours

In 1996, Dunn was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for humanities and social sciences. In 2000, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).

Selected works

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Judith Academics of King's College London 1939 births Living people British psychologists British developmental psychologists British women psychologists Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Pennsylvania State University faculty Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College London