Dr. Phyllis R. Magrab, professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University, has been director of the university’s Center for Child and Human Development since 1975 and chief of pediatric psychology since 1969. She was one of the founders of the pediatric psychology field, and her text, “Psychological Management of Pediatric Problems,” represents one of the first works that established the field’s academic presence.
Dr. Magrab also has contributed significantly to training clinical psychologists and has served as chairperson of both committees and conferences that have further defined the profession. Over the past two decades, Dr. Magrab has been involved in forming domestic public policy to ensure society’s commitment to children and youth with special needs. Internationally, she has worked with the Soros Foundation to develop early-childhood, democracy-building programs in Central and Eastern Europe. She now is working with UNESCO on the Education For All (EFA) program and with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on policies for serving at-risk children.
For her work, Dr. Magrab has received numerous awards, including Georgetown University’s inaugural Estelle Ramey Medical Women Faculty Award in 1999 and the John C. MacQueen Lecture Award from the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs in 2002. A prolific author, she has written/edited 10 books, as well as numerous articles and chapters. Moreover, she has a special interest in teenage pregnancy and was a co-founder of the Best Friends Foundation.
