Dr. Dale Blyth is a senior research consultant and advisor who recently retired as Extension Professor in the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Minnesota where he served as the Howland Endowed Chair in Youth Development Leadership and Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. For 15 years he served as Associate Dean directing the Center for Youth Development. The Center was home for the Minnesota 4-H Program (with over 100 staff and 10,000 volunteers touching 130,000 youth annually); the Youth Work Institute (focused on developing and delivering professional development to 4,000 youth workers), Youth Community Connections (then the statewide Mott network), and conducting applied research and evaluation. Recently he led an initiative to advance social & emotional learning outcomes. He serves on several community, state and national groups related to out of school time, data systems, and youth development.
Prior to joining the University of Minnesota Dr. Blyth was the Director of Research and Evaluation at Search Institute and on the faculty of Cornell University and Ohio State University. He co-developed the Center for Adolescent Health at the American Medical Association, and was a Research Scientist at the Boys Town Center for Youth Development.
Dr. Blyth has co-authored a book, written many chapters and dozens of articles and delivered numerous presentations. His research focuses on access to, participation in, the quality of and outcomes from non-formal learning opportunities in communities as well as the use of data in policy and practice. Recently he led an initiative to advance social and emotional learning outcomes in collective impact efforts. He serves on several community, state and national groups related to out of school time, data systems, and youth development.
In his current roles, Dr. Blyth is a senior advisor and consultant on a variety of projects where his experience in bridging research and practice, change management, and shaping the fields of youth development and non-formal learning can be utilized to make a difference. He can be contacted at blyth004@umn.edu.
