C. Cybele Raver
American developmental psychologist
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Her research primarily focuses on the relationship between self-regulation and school readiness in young children, particularly those growing up in poverty.
Early life and education
Raver grew up in Manhattan and is the sister of actress Kim Raver. She graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1982.
Raver received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1986 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in developmental psychology from Yale University in 1994. In her doctoral dissertation supervised by Bonnie Jean Leadbeater, Raver examined interactions between low-income 2-year-olds and their mothers.
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Career
Raver began her academic career at Cornell University, where she was an assistant professor at the Department of Human Development from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2007, she was an associate professor at the Harris School of Public Policy of the University of Chicago, where she also directed the Harris School's Center for Human Potential and Public Policy from 2002.
Raver joined New York University in 2007, where she served as a faculty member in applied psychology at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She served as vice provost of academic, faculty, and research affairs from 2012 to 2017, as senior vice provost for academic analytics and graduate affairs from 2017 to 2018, and as deputy provost from 2018 to June 2021.
On July 1, 2021, Raver became provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was also appointed the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology and Human Development.
University of Michigan
On August 18, 2026, the University of Michigan Board of Regents selected Raver as president-designate of the university. On September 1, the board formally appointed Raver as the university's incoming 17th president, effective December 1. Her initial contract covers a five-year term as president, ending on December 1, 2031. At the start of her term at Michigan, Raver would have the highest annual base salary, US$2 million, of any public university president.
Academic research
Raver's research focuses on child development, particularly how poverty and other forms of socioeconomic adversity affect children's self-regulation, emotional development, and readiness for school. Her research found associations between persistent economic hardship in early childhood and later difficulties with skills such as attention and impulse control.
Raver also led the Chicago School Readiness Project, a randomized study of an intervention in Head Start classrooms. The study found that providing teachers with classroom-management support and mental-health consultation improved children's attention, impulse control, and other aspects of self-regulation; these improvements were also associated with gains in early academic skills.
Personal life
Raver was married to developmental psychologist Clancy Blair, with whom she also collaborated academically. Blair died in December 2024.