About the Prevention Research Center
The Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development (PRC) was established in 1997 with a focus on longitudinal, developmental research on risk. Research conducted in the Center examines how communities can work together with families, schools, community groups (social service, youth groups, the faith community), and industry to promote healthy lifestyles for children, youth, and families, and develops clinical trials of innovative models to promote competence and prevent maladaptive outcomes for children, families, and communities. The Center provides research seminars on prevention science for faculty and graduate students. The Center also supports Bennett Faculty Scholars, Graduate Prevention Fellows, and conferences.
Center faculty members conduct a diverse range of projects. These include basic longitudinal studies of risk and protective factors, randomized clinical trails, quasi-experimental studies, and program evaluations. As such, studies face a host of common methodological problems, including: (1) the modeling of longitudinal data, (2) effective and efficient strategies for handling missing data, (3) the use of multi-level models for understanding the role of communities, schools, and families, (4) studying prevention outcomes in light of developmental transitions in problem behaviors, and (5) utilizing person-oriented models of analysis.
A report on the Prevention Research Center's first five years is available on the Publications page of this web site.
During its first five years, the Prevention Research Center has become the locus of research, technical assistance, and program development in prevention science in Pennsylvania. All of the activities described above continue today, but at a broader scale. The Center has offices and staff in State College, Harrisburg, and York. A total of 19 faculty members, 16 full-time Ph.D.-level research associates, and 2 postdoctoral fellows are currently associated with the Center.
Funded Research at the Prevention Research Center
Over its first five years, Center associates have demonstrated their commitment to research, program development, and program evaluation by gaining grants and contracts from state and federal funders, including foundations, state and federal agencies, school districts, and many others. In 1998–1999, the Prevention Research Center received 7 grants totaling more than $700,000. Five years later, in 2002–2003, the Center administered 22 grants for a total of $4,515,162. This growth has continued––in 2003–2004, the Center had 25 funded grants totaling approximately $ 5,156,458. In addition, the Center currently co-shares 7 grants totaling $4,632,000 with other colleges and centers at Penn State.
The Bennett Endowment
Mrs. Edna Bennett Pierce
A $5 million commitment to Penn State's College of Health and Human Development from alumna Edna Bennett Pierce supports a variety of University and College efforts aimed at improving the health and welfare of children and adolescents. Bennett Pierce directed $4 million of the total gift to an endowment for teaching, research and outreach programs involving children and adolescents. The endowment funds graduate and faculty fellowships, and provide other enhancements to the work of the Prevention Research Center.
A resident of Wilmington, Delaware, and a civic leader and philanthropist, Bennett Pierce is a member of the “Famous 500,” the first freshmen class of women admitted to Penn State following World War II. She earned her bachelor's degree in home economics with an emphasis in child development in 1953. C. Eugene Bennett, who died in 1996, began his doctoral studies in analytical chemistry at Penn State in 1951.
As a result of the generosity of the Bennett Endowment, the Center initiated a program of Graduate Prevention Fellowships and Bennett Prevention Scholars. These fellowships last for one academic year and are awarded on a competitive basis.
The Bennett Endowment also makes possible the annual Bennett Lecture in Prevention Science.
