David P. MacKinnon is a distinguished scholar and leading authority in quantitative psychology and statistical methodology. He holds the prestigious position of Foundation and Regents Professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, where he has been a faculty member since 1990. Following his doctoral studies in measurement and psychometrics at UCLA, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1986 with a dissertation on measurement of human memory storage, he established his academic career at the University of Southern California's Institute for Prevention Research before joining ASU. His educational foundation includes a BA from Harvard University in 1979, which launched his trajectory toward becoming one of the field's most influential methodologists with wide ranging interests in statistics and methodology.
Professor MacKinnon has pioneered transformative approaches to mediation analysis, fundamentally reshaping how researchers evaluate causal mechanisms in prevention and treatment programs across psychology and public health. His groundbreaking work on statistical methods for assessing mediation, continuously supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse funding since 1990, has provided researchers with rigorous frameworks to understand how interventions achieve their effects through intermediate variables. His influential 2008 book on statistical mediation analysis earned the prestigious Nan Tobler Award from the Society for Prevention Research in 2011, cementing his status as the field's foremost expert. As a Thomson-Reuters and Clarivate highly cited researcher, his methodological innovations have been implemented in thousands of studies worldwide, significantly advancing the scientific rigor of causal inference in the social and health sciences.
Beyond his research contributions, MacKinnon has demonstrated exceptional leadership through his presidency of the American Psychological Association's Division on Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in 2017 and the Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology in 2020. His dedication to mentorship was recognized with the 2021 APA Division 5 Jacob Cohen Teaching and Mentorship award and the 2007 ASU Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, reflecting his profound impact on the next generation of quantitative researchers. Recent honors including the 2022 Lyle Jones Fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill and the 2023 McCausland Fellowship at the University of South Carolina underscore his continued prominence in the field. Currently, Professor MacKinnon remains at the forefront of methodological innovation, advancing measurement approaches for investigating mediating variables while continuing to shape the future direction of quantitative psychology through his collaborative research and leadership.
