Email: jhubbard@udel.edu
I’m Dr. Julie Hubbard, and I am the Director of the Peer Relations Lab, as well as Professor Emerita in the Clinical Science Program in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware.
I graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Psychology and Economics from the University of Richmond in 1989, received my MA in Clinical Psychology from Duke University in 1991, and earned my PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke University in 1995. I also completed a yearlong clinical internship at the Brown University School of Medicine Clinical Psychology Training Consortium in 1994-1995. Right after receiving my Ph.D. in 1995, I joined the faculty at the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2003 and Full Professor in 2014. I served as DCT of the Clinical Science Program at the University of Delaware from 2009 to 2014, and I’ve been a licensed psychologist in the State of Delaware since 2001. I retired as Professor Emerita from the University of Delaware in 2024, although our lab is still busy analyzing data and preparing manuscripts from previous projects.
My research program encompasses both basic and intervention work in the field of children’s peer relations and aggressive behavior. At the level of basic research, I am particularly interested in furthering our understanding of the important role that bystanders play in children’s bullying episodes, delineating the mechanisms underlying the reactive versus proactive functions of childhood aggression, and learning more about the precursors and outcomes of children’s peer rejection and victimization. Over time, these topics have converged and provided the empirical foundation for an implementation and evaluation of a bullying prevention program in Delaware schools. Throughout all of this work, I remain committed to several key principles: 1) the need for strong basic research as the foundation underlying intervention efforts, 2) the need to rigorously evaluate those interventions we implement, and 3) the need for science and intervention efforts to continually influence one another as we work to improve children’s daily lives in the context of their peer relations.
On a more personal note, I live in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania with my husband Jim, and my 18-year-old son Leo. Our 25-year-old daughter Mikaela lives in New Orleans, is a graduate of Tulane University, and works in the field of public health as an epidemiologist. Our family time is spent attending Leo’s many baseball games, visiting Mikaela in New Orleans, traveling to beautiful places we’ve always wanted to visit (recent trips have included Sicily, Alaska, Prague, and Copenhagen), and doing service projects in Guatemala, the country from which Leo was adopted.
