Susan J. Kontos

“The Center for Families reinforces my strong conviction that families provide the glue that holds society together. I hope my gift will encourage my fellow alumni and friends to support the center. I have learned a lot about the power of philanthropy and want to use my gift to expand that power to improve family life in the future.”

Susan J. Kontos

Susan J. Kontos was the founding director of the Center for Families in 1994.

Professor Kontos died September 12, 2003, following a valiant nine-year struggle with cancer. She will be sadly missed and remembered by colleagues and students as a superb and dedicated scholar, a good friend, a devoted mother, and an enthusiastic world citizen.

For more than 20 years, Kontos was among the most productive researchers investigating young children’s development in the context of early education and care. She served on faculties at the University of Northern Colorado, Penn State University, and most recently, Purdue University for 17 years. Her detailed and rigorous observational studies of children and teachers influenced thinking about practice and quality in programs for young children. She was tirelessly devoted to improving the lives of teachers, children, and families through scientific study and advocacy. Her many contributions included the landmark study “Quality in Family Child Care and Relative Care” (1995, Teachers College Press) and numerous research articles on topics including early childhood classroom environments, inclusion, teacher-child interaction, and teacher preparation. She held editorships for Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Young Children (Research in Review), and the Child and Youth Care Forum, and served on other editorial boards.

Kontos was a leader in the field of early intervention in Indiana, co-chairing the Higher Education Council for Early Intervention from 1988-94 and serving on the Interagency Coordinating Council for Infants and Toddlers since 1987. She received the Hoosier Early Childhood Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children in 2000.

Kontos was a devoted teacher and mentor for graduate and undergraduate students, receiving the Mary Matthews Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Health and Human Sciences (formerly known as the College of Consumer and Family Sciences) in 1996. She was an enthusiastic traveler, often in the company of her daughter, Wynne. She shared her love of the international experience with Purdue students by co-directing the first summer study abroad program specifically designed for Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) students during the summer of 2002 in Glasgow, Scotland.

HDFS faculty, staff, and students share with many others a great sense of loss for our friend and colleague, Susan Kontos.​

Her numerous contributions to the field included editorial positions with the Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Young Children, Early Childhood Research and Practice, and Child and Youth Care Forum, and service on key state-level early childhood committees in Indiana.