At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, Malvern Prep introduced Dr. Bill Carr ‘68, a top 100 Steinway pianist and professor at Immaculata University, as the Scholar-in-Residence. The school’s goal was to implement an accomplished professional in a unique, non-classroom-centric setting. After Dr. Carr’s tenure, Malvern’s subsequent scholar was Dr. Jordan Ermilio, Director of the Center for Humanitarian Engineering and International Development at Villanova University. Now, coming in the fall of 2026, Malvern is thrilled to welcome Dr. Niobe Way as the next Scholar-in-Residence.

Dr. Niobe Way is a Professor of Developmental Psychology at New York University and a leading expert on adolescent social-emotional development. Her work is primarily focused on adolescent boys, friendships, and the “crisis of connection” (NYU Steinhardt). For over three decades, she has studied how cultural ideologies influence human behavior and development. Way argues that social pressures force boys to abandon intimate friendships, contributing to higher rates of loneliness, depression, and violence in boys and men. Way will now bring her work to Malvern Prep and serve as Scholar-in-Residence for two years. 

Way did not always pursue a career in Developmental Psychology; rather, it began in the field of social welfare and basic psychology. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a double major and worked as a research assistant. After two years of working as an assistant in medical school, Way began researching drug abuse in kids and helping them recover through family therapy. 

Way pinpointed why she made the switch to therapy.

“The key thing in my story: I transitioned because of what I heard from young people, and I’ve always been driven by what I learned from young people, not what the grown-ups say, but actually what young people say.”

What made the transition so easy for Way was that she was already listening. 

In “Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves, and Our Culture,” Way explained, “They were telling a story that nobody was telling. And today I’m the only one telling this story in Rebels.”

In a growing field, Way believes that people are starting to absorb the information, but are still unclear on how to process it adequately.

Way made clear that “ultimately, what boys are teaching us is not just about friendships but about the culture we live in, which is fundamentally anti-social.”

In her new book, submitted to Harvard University Press, called “Our Social Nature in an Anti-Social Culture,” Way asserts that by listening to adolescent boys, we can learn that there is a very anti-social culture.

“We’re all swimming in this anti-social culture, money over people, social skills not valued, and that creates a challenge for everybody, but particularly for boys and young men, in achieving what they want, which is deep relationships,” Way said. 

The information and research regarding adolescent boys is not commonly researched. Way laid out the reasons why this is the case. 

“The reason there isn’t more research like mine is that people aren’t really hearing the message. They still keep doing what I call adult-explaining, talking down to young people, and saying, “This is your problem. You don’t focus enough, you don’t have good enough grades,” rather than actually listening to what they’re struggling with. Once we begin to listen, and once people publish pieces in newspapers, people will start to listen. But the grown-ups aren’t listening, and so that’s the reason you don’t have more people doing this research,” Way said.  

Malvern’s core values, Truth, Unity, and Love, are at the heart of everything we do on campus. Way mentions James Dean’s film “Rebels Without a Cause.” Way connected the film and Malvern’s core Augustian values through the thematic thread of friendship. The entire film is about struggling to find friendships, and the reason a crime is committed is that he gets involved with bad kids in the search for friendship.

“I’m saying about boys is that, fundamentally, based on the science and what we know about children, we are naturally truthful, we are naturally a loving species, and we naturally know how to create unity. When I say rebels with a cause, I’m saying you already have that capacity. You are fundamentally, naturally truthful, honest, and loving, and you know how to create unity.”

Way flips the conversation inward, encouraging personal reflection.

“The fundamental thing is, if you don’t see your own capacity for truth, unity, and love, if you can’t see your own humanity, you can’t see the humanity of somebody else. You have to see your own capacity for these qualities, and then you can be open to somebody else, even if they’re irritating you, even if they’re saying something offensive. You have to do self-love to see the love of the other. The same applies to truth; you have to be willing to be honest with yourself, to reveal your vulnerabilities, or even your strengths, and embrace those strengths. Unity, how would you frame that in a self-oriented way? Because that’s less of a self-concept.”

When asked about her overarching goals and intentions as the Malvern Prep Scholar-in-Residence, Way expresses her excitement to connect.

“I’m planning to work with [the Malvern community] in ways that benefit the community and share these values. What I’m aiming to do, with your leadership and the help of all the students, is create an opportunity to nourish truth, unity, and love at each grade,” Way said. 

Her previous work in all types of schools has developed the understanding and intentionality she is bringing to Malvern’s campus.

“We’ve been working in schools for about 10 years in New York City, public and private, through something called the Listen with Curiosity Project, which fosters skills of relational intelligence to help boys have meaningful friendships. At Malvern, I want to focus on bringing in ideas about how to do that,” Way said.

As a developmental psychologist, Way’s research is entirely dependent on those whom she studies. The importance of her developing a sustainable connection with the Malvern community and its values is crucial to the efficiency of this research.

“I’m more interested in reading the terrain: who’s here, who could we work with, and then figuring out ways to build a curriculum that literally builds these qualities. And because of Father Bill, I’m also fascinated by the Augustinian tradition. I now recognize, deeply, the link between what science is showing and what the Augustinian and faith-based perspective is showing; it’s the same thing,” Way said.

In an all-school assembly on Friday, March 20, Way spoke to the Malvern community and expressed in her closing remarks that boys and young men are yearning for meaningful connection and deep friendships. The creation of stereotypes surrounding adolescent boys prohibits their ability to act in their true nature and cope by putting on a mask. According to Way’s research, only seventeen percent of people in the United States under thirty years of age report having one meaningful connection with another person.

“As a culture, normalize the desire for deep secret friendships for young boys. Once normalized, people will talk. Engage in curiosity; they want to be seen as what they are not by stereotypes,” Way said.