Expanding the CFF Community in CFF30!

Throughout the 30th anniversary year, the Center for Families has been working with our faculty partners and council members to explore ideas and partnerships that will last beyond a celebration and continue to strengthen research about families throughout Purdue University.

Melissa Franks, PhD, Director of the Center for Families, is pleased to officially announce the newest members of the Center for Families team.

Ellen Ernst Kossek, PhD, (Distinguished Professor of Management) joins the CFF family as a Distinguished Family Scholar. Her international leadership in organizational behavior, gender, and work-family research make her an incredible addition to strengthen the capacity to conduct research about families at the center. Ellen is currently is working with CFF to host the Family Supportive Supervisor Training (FSST) and Workplace Assessment Tools based on a study that was funded by a NIH grant that included an intervention to improve supervisor support for using paid sick and family leave policies in one of the first randomized clinical trials in the U.S.

Jeremy Reynolds, PhD, (Professor of Sociology) is now Associate Director of CFF and Co-Chair of the Kanter Award. With his leadership and vision, we are excited for the collaborative growth and success ahead. Soon after joining the Purdue faculty in 2016, Jeremy began serving on the Center for Families Advisory Council, where he helped guide strategies and goals of the center. Also, Jeremy’s long history with the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work and Family Research allowed him to step into the co-chair position after many years of serving on the review committee and after winning the award himself for his 2006 article Pursuing preferences: The creation and resolution of work hour mismatches.

Oliver Wendt, PhD, (Associate Professor and Chair, Cognitive and Emotional Disabilities, Univ. of Potsdam) continues his work with CFF as the Kontos Faculty Scholar. This prestigious position allows him to collaborate in research with the center, focusing on severe communication disorders with an emphasis on autism and developmental disabilities. CFF created this position in honor of the founding director, Susan Kontos, who was a leader in the field of early intervention and one of the most productive researchers investigating young children’s development in the context of early education and care.

As our team expands, CFF appreciates their willingness to take on these leadership responsibilities to advance the work of the center.