The Queen’s community is remembering Ray Peters. Professor Emeritus on the Department of Psychology, who died Feb. 15 at the age of 81.

Dr. Peters arrived at Queen’s after receiving his PhD in 1969 from the University of Waterloo, following a master’s at the same school, and completing his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College.
Involved in the field of child development and children's mental health research for more than 35 years, he was an internationally-recognized expert on the promotion of children’s well-being and the prevention of children’s mental health problems.

Over the course of his career at Queen’s, he supervised 32 graduate student theses and dissertations and 45 undergraduate honours theses. Dr. Peters was known for being committed to ensuring that the research he conducts was translated into practice, programs, and policies.

As Research Director for the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project, a program designed to prevent young children in low-income neighborhoods from experiencing poor developmental outcomes, Dr. Peters headed a multidisciplinary group of universities, and local research teams. The focus of the research is evaluating community-based programs which influence the development of young children and their families. 

During his career, Dr. Peters also served as a Visiting Scientist at the Mental Health Division of the World Health Organization in Geneva, and the Social Learning Center in Eugene, OR. He was instrumental in establishing the annual International Conference of Behavioural Science at the Banff Centre, was a member of the executive committee, and chaired the March 2003 meetings on Effective Progress for Early Childhood Development.

He was also a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, and a member of the Directing Counsel for the Health Canada Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.

A service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at Chalmers United Church, followed by a Celebration of Life at Fort Henry's Great Hall at 3 p.m. 

Dr. Peters’ family has established The Ray DeVere Peters Award at Queen's University, to commemorate his legacy and support future graduate students whose research is in the field of early childhood development. Contributions to support the fund can be made at the webpage.
 

Ray Peters