Deborah A. Phillips PhD

Georgetown University
Professor of Psychology and Associated Faculty in the Public Policy Institute

Co-director, Center for Research on Children in the U.S.


Former Member, National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Harvard University

Deborah A. Phillips is President, Foundation for Child Development, and on-leave as Professor of Psychology and Associated Faculty in the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. She was the first Executive Director of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine and served as Study Director for the Board’s report: From Neurons to Neighborhoods. The Science of Early Child Development. Her research focuses on the developmental effects of early childhood programs for both typically developing children and those with special needs, including research on child care, Head Start, and pre-Kindergarten programs. Deborah has served on numerous task forces and advisory groups that address child and family policy issues, including the Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, the Head Start FACES Redesign Expert Panel, and the Secretary’s (US DHHS) Committee on the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Evaluation. Dr. Phillips is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Eastern Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society. In 2011, she received the Distinguished Contributions to Education in Child Development Award from the Society for Research in Child Development.