In 1998, Mark Greenberg became the first holder of the Bennett Chair in Prevention Research in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development. His goal in coming to Penn State was to create a research center focused on prevention of serious difficulties and the promotion of well-being in children and their caregivers. He found a synergistic partner in the benefactor of the Center, Edna Bennett Pierce, who shared his vision and caring spirit to promote the well-being of children.

Dr. Greenberg founded the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development in 1998 and was the director until 2015. He conducted research in four areas: school-based prevention research, social and emotional learning, family- and community-level interventions, and mindfulness interventions with children and educators. He provided mentoring for many early career scientists, including those who have gone on to become directors of university prevention research centers.

Diana Fishbein’s goals for the center were to sustain and grow the work of its investigators, expand into a new generation of prevention research, transfer scientific knowledge to practices and policies to support children’s healthy development and family functioning, and integrate translational neuroscience into prevention research. During her tenure as PRC Director, she sought to increase capacity in the center’s ability to translate prevention science findings to real world impacts.

With a strong foundation, the PRC continued to flourish and grow under Ed Smith’s leadership. An important aspect of the Center’s focus has been on the implementation, evaluation, and promotion of evidence-based practices to foster healthy lives. Dr. Smith’s focus was to assure that these practices are evaluated in real-life circumstances, involving practitioners and others with whom such programs will eventually reside.

Stephanie Lanza, in close collaboration with Greg Fosco, was devoted to building a research community focused on the shared values of integrity, curiosity, passion and impact. Under their leadership, the PRC has expanded in scholarship, service, and training the next generation of scientists. Research that broadened under their leadership includes programs to promote human flourishing, research using intensive longitudinal methods to address substance use and addiction, and long-term effects of intervention programs administered during adolescence.

Lanza and Fosco initiated an impactful program to support research focused on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion by awarding 15 grants to early career researchers at Penn State. The long-standing Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) T32 program, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also was successfully renewed under their leadership.