J. Ronald Lally, Ed.D., was one of the pioneers in the field of infant/toddler development. He received his doctorate in educational psychology with a focus on infancy from the University of Florida in 1968 and a postdoctoral certificate for infant testing from the Child Development Research Centre in London. While in Florida, he directed one of the first home-visiting programs for infants in the United States. For many years he was a professor at Syracuse University and chair of its Department of Child and Family Studies. There he ran the Syracuse University Family Development Research Program, a longitudinal study of the impact of early intervention on low-income children. Part of that study was the operation of the Syracuse University Children’s Center, the first federally funded infant care center in the country.
He founded and directed the Center for Child & Family Studies at WestEd and directed the work of its Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC). Dr. Lally consulted nationally and internationally on programs and policies for infants, toddlers, and their families. He produced 20 videos on quality infant/toddler care that are used worldwide. He was one of the founders of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, and served on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services advisory committee that developed the national initiative Early Head Start. Among his many important publications is For Our Babies: Ending the Invisible Neglect of America’s Infants. Dr. Lally founded and led For Our Babies, a national movement that promotes healthy development in the United States for children from conception to age 3.