Applications are invited for the position of Director of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development (MPSI), Wayne State University, beginning Fall, 2021. 

About the Position 

The Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute (MPSI), founded in 1920, recently celebrated a century of leadership in the study and practice of Child and Family Development.  From opening one of the first nursery schools in the nation to bringing renowned faculty and students to its campus, MPSI has always sought to?improve the development, health and well-being of infants, children, youth, young adults, and their families, through research, education, outreach, and the MPSI Early Childhood Center: with 12 faculty, $2.5M in annual research funding, 14 pre-doctoral trainees, and yearly outreach to over two thousand people in community programs. A decade of accelerated growth and accomplishment positions Wayne State University to hire the next Director for the MPSI, launching a new century of achievement and impact. The MPSI website can be found at  https://mpsi.wayne.edu/about  and its 2017-2022 strategic plan at: https://mpsi.wayne.edu/about/mpsi_2017-2022_strategic_plan.pdf.   2020 Biannual Report: https://mpsi.wayne.edu/about/mpsi-report

Research at MPSI focuses on urban populations who endure community, environmental, biomedical, psychosocial, systemic, and other stressors influenced by the sociocultural context, including but not limited to structural inequality. This work is translated into practice to improve the lives of urban youth and their families.  Faculty promote interdisciplinary research in developmental science across Wayne State University – bridging schools, departments, disciplines and individuals – to provide challenging undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral research training in pre-natal, child, adolescent, emerging adulthood, and family development. Faculty, staff, and students also engage the community through public outreach, professional development, scholarship, and educational activities for the common good.   

The Director of MPSI will report to the Vice President for Research and will have the following duties: 

Leadership 

• Leadership role in vision, direction, scholarly community, engagement in campus and community

     partners, and raising national profile of MPSI 

• Provide leadership in fund-development
• Oversee MPSI’s budget, research infrastructure, and space 
• Provide direction for MPSI’s extensive community engagement programs 
• Provide leadership to MPSI’s interdisciplinary pre-doctoral training program 
• Supervise the Executive Director of the MPSI Early Childhood Center 

Research 

• Maintain an active research program, including externally-funded research, that complements

     the urban interests of MPSI’s faculty and students   

Culture/Climate 

• Support a collaborative and culturally responsive environment for MPSI faculty, students, and

       community partners  

• Support a culture and climate that actively promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as

     necessary components of excellence  

• Provide leadership and mentoring for the MPSI faculty, with an emphasis on expanding sponsored research 

Public Profile 

• Serve as the liaison to the MPSI National Steering Committee and the Internal Advisory Board, while    

     supporting and encouraging continuous improvement recommendations  

• Contributeto efforts to enhance the restoration, revitalization and public awareness of the Charles Lang Freer House (a national historic landmark), which houses the Institute faculty  
• Lead efforts for increased, sustained community engagement that is both culturally competent and mutually beneficial for MPSI and the community 

Collaborations 

• Work with the Director of the Lifespan Alliance, a partnership with the Institute of

     Gerontology (IOG), to coordinate programs and resources between MPSI and the IOG    

• Expandpartnerships with faculty across the university to enhance Wayne State University’s

     research in urban child and family development   

• Serve with the Merrill Palmer Skillman Board of Visitors, the chief fund-raising body of the

     Institute  

• Represent MPSI on university committees