Yair Ziv is chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa. He is also the head of the Early Education and Development Lab. 

His research focuses on preschool children's social and emotional development. Specifically, he is interested in young children's social relationships and the ways by which these inform their social cognition. In addition, a major part of his research focuses on the types of relationships that develops between children and their caregivers, both at home, and in early educational settings. 

Prof. Ziv has completed his graduate studies in Developmental Psychology at the University of Haifa (with honors) and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Psychology. Before accepting the position at the University of Haifa, Prof. Ziv served as a Senior Study Director at Westat, a large research institution located in Rockville, MD. In this capacity, he conducted and directed large-scale research in preschools and early education centers across the US. 

Prof.  Ziv is a recipient of multiple research grants from competitive grant foundations including The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the European Union (Marie Curie), the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the Israeli Department of Education. He authored dozens of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and co-edited a successful volume on attachment-based early intervention programs. He currently serves as an associate editor of Early Childhood Research Quarterly.