Peter L. Benson, Ph.D., is president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, and one of the world’s leading authorities on positive human development. He weaves together rigorous scholarship with a passionate commitment to understanding—and influencing—society to be more attentive to children and adolescents.
Dr. Benson’s international reputation in human development emerged in the 1990s through his innovative, research-based framework of Developmental Assets, the most widely recognized approach to positive youth development in the United States and, increasingly, around the world. Dr. Benson continues to break new ground in the study of human development. Most recently, he has focused on conceptualizing a new understanding of “thriving.” He is also the principal investigator and co-director for Search Institute’s new Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence.
Dr. Benson is the author or editor of fifteen books on child and adolescent development, including Sparks: How Parents Can Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers (Jossey-Bass), All Kids Are Our Kids: What Communities Must Do to Raise Caring and Responsible Children and Adolescents (Jossey-Bass), and The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (Sage). His newest book, Vision: Awakening Your Potential to Create a Better World, was published in May, 2009, by Templeton Press.
Dr. Benson is married to Tunie Munson-Benson, a nationally recognized expert in children’s literature and literacy. They have two children, Liv and Kai, and two grandsons, Ryder and Truman.