KU News Release

John Colombo named director of KU’s Life Span Institute

John Colombo

LAWRENCE — John Colombo, interim director of the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at the University of Kansas since March 1, has been named to the position on a permanent basis, effective immediately. He is the third person to head the institute since its formation in 1990 out of the Bureau of Child Research. He was appointed following a national search.

“The Life Span Institute brings together leading scientists at KU in the interest of furthering our understanding of human development, aging and disabilities,” said Colombo. “The institute has been a clear and positive influence in my own research career, and I am both honored and humbled to be named as its director.”

Colombo succeeds and will report to Steve Warren, who became vice provost for research and graduate studies in January.

“John has an outstanding background in research, teaching and administration, plus an intimate association with the Life Span Institute that goes back more than 25 years,” said Warren. “I’m pleased that he has accepted this new challenge and I am confident the institute will thrive under his leadership.”

Colombo is a professor of psychology at KU and was associate director for cognitive neuroscience at the Life Span Institute since 2004. Past campus administrative appointments include three years as an associate dean in the former Graduate School and one year as acting chair of the Department of Psychology. He has also served as faculty chair of the campus institutional review board (now the Human Subjects Committee) since 1993.

His research grant management experience is equally extensive. He is a co-investigator and director of the Participant Recruitment Core of the Center for Biobehavioral Neuroscience in Communicative Disorders. Since July 1, he has also served as co-director of the Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, a major research component of the Life Span Institute for more than 40 years.

Colombo came to KU in 1982 as a postdoctoral trainee in the Bureau of Child Research, now part of the Life Span Institute. From 1985 to 1988, he was a research associate and assistant scientist when he joined the Department of Human Development and Family Life as an assistant professor. He became a member of the psychology faculty in 2002. His academic background includes doctorate and master’s degrees in developmental psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, all from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Colombo’s research interests are in the developmental cognitive neuroscience of attention and learning in infancy and early childhood. He currently holds, or is a key participant in, grants from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation.

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