Margaret Kerr, Professor of Psychology at Örebro University, Sweden, died Sunday, November 18th after a long struggle with cancer. An adopted Swede, Margaret was originally from Saegertown, Pennsylvania. She attended Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, earning bachelor’s degrees with honors in both psychology and business. She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University where she was supervised by Daryl Bem and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Richard Tremblay at the University of Montréal, Canada. Margaret had worked at Örebro University for over a decade, establishing and co-directing the Center for Developmental Research with her husband, Håkan Stattin. She was also a co-founder of the research unit, Youth & Society, developed to study political and civic development of adolescents and young adults. During her tenure at Örebro University, she served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Research on Adolescence and the Swedish editor for the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
A consummate researcher, Margaret’s work was fundamental in establishing the Psychology department’s standing as one of the best research units in Europe. Her work, focused on the development of children, adolescents, and young adults, covered a variety of adjustment issues, including delinquency, depression, shyness, anxiety, psychopathic traits, and civic engagement. She was particularly interested in how youths’ development played out across contexts and how they influenced the contexts of their own development. Her interest in research was both vocation and avocation: Asked about her hobbies, she would respond that her work was her hobby.
Recognized nationally and internationally for the quality of her work, Margaret collaborated with researchers across the globe. Her efforts won recognition from the scientific community: she was given an Excellent Researcher Award by the Swedish Research Council, and with her husband, she won the Roberta Grodberg Simmons Prize from the Society for Research on Adolescence. Her students and colleagues remember her as a remarkably intelligent woman of seemingly boundless energy, who generously mentored others in their research pursuits.
Margaret is survived by her husband, Håkan; her son, Justin Scheckler; her daughter, Tara Lindén, son-in-law, Anders Lindén, and her two-month-old grandson, Ari Kerr Lindén.