About the Center for Families

The Center for Families (CFF) is a driving force for discovery and dissemination of evidence-based, multidisciplinary approaches for strengthening all families and helping them to thrive.

Since 1994, CFF has pursued the original vision of its founders, led by several women donors, to unite academic, community, and other contributing partners in a shared commitment to improve the quality of life for all families.

The collaborative efforts of faculty, students, and other partners, backed by the invaluable support of generous donors, fuel CFF’s mission to empower all families to thrive in nurturing environments that meet their essential needs, reduce their exposures to risk, and enhance their individual and collective strength and resilience.

Our Community

Leadership Team

Melissa Franks, Director

A member of the Purdue University faculty since 2007, Melissa is a social psychologist. She received her doctoral degree from Kent State University. She has strong interests aging families, marriage and health, health behaviors and chronic illness management. Melissa stepped into the role of director in 2023. As the director of the Center for Families, she oversees all of the center’s initiatives and research.

Kameron Moding, Associate Director

As Associate Director for the Center for Families, Kameron leads the Center for Families’ annual funding program which supports faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students from departments across Purdue and Extension, as they study families from a cross-disciplinary, life course perspective. Kameron is a developmental scientist whose research focuses on the role of child characteristics (e.g., temperament, self-regulation) and families (e.g., parent feeding practices) in promoting healthy eating patterns and growth in early childhood. She earned her doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Jeremy Reynolds, Associate Director & Co-Chair, Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work and Family Research

Jeremy joined Purdue University faculty as Professor in 2016. After serving on the CFF Advisory Council for many years, he stepped into the role of co-chair of the Kanter Award and Associate Director. Jeremy received his doctoral degree from University North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His research examines two broad questions: What do workers want from their jobs? and To what extent do workers get what they want?

Ellen Ernst Kossek, Distinguished Family Scholar

Ellen is Distinguished Professor of Management. 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.

Oliver Wendt, Kontos Faculty Scholar

Oliver is Associate Professor and Chair, Cognitive and Emotional Disabilities, Univ. of Potsdam. He was a Susan Kontos Faculty Fellow in 2012, which helped support his work as a faculty entrepreneur, and co-founder and chief scientist of award-winning, autism technology start-up SPEAK MODalities LLC. As the Kontos Faculty Scholar, he is able to collaborate in research with the center, focusing on severe communication disorders with an emphasis on autism and developmental disabilities.

CFF created the Kontos Faculty Scholar 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.

Kate Kester, Project Manager

At the Center for Families, Kate guides the ideas, initiatives, and activities of the center, solving problems before they become obstacles. Throughout her career, she has led the creation and management of strategies that help organizations attain their goals, using communication to improve outcomes and foster strong connections.

Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Director Emerita

A member of the Purdue University faculty since 1989, Shelley holds an MBA and doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. She has strong interests in the links between work conditions and family life, and in the evaluation of community needs and program outcomes. Shelley served as the director of the Center for Families from 1996 to 2022, and serves as Co-Chair of the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research and director of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, initiative of the Center.

Advisory Council

• Joyce Beery Miles, Council Chair; Advocate, CFF; Joyce B. Miles & Associates
• Cheryl Altinkemer, Senior Associate Vice President for Advancement, Purdue for Life Foundation, retired
• Elizabeth Day, PhD, Research Assistant Professor with the HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice, University of Oregon
• Travis Dorsch, PhD, Professor, Graduate Program Director, & Founding Director of the Families in Sport Lab, Human Development and Family Studies, Utah State University
• David Dunlap, Advocate, CFF
• Peggy Dunlap, Advocate, CFF
• Jane Horner, Health and Human Science Extension Educator, Purdue Extension, Retired
• Sheila Klinker, Indiana House of Representatives
• Mike MacDermid Wadsworth, Advocate, CFF; Retired IT Professional
• Bob Miles, Advocate, CFF; Bob Miles & Associates
• Christie Sennott, Associate Professor, Sociology, Purdue University
• Shagun Sethi, Graduate Student, Sociology, Purdue University
• Pandora Taylor, Extension Educator, HHS; Purdue Extension – Boone County

Ex Officio Advisory Council Members

• Aaron Bowman, PhD, Dean of College of Health and Human Sciences
• Lisa Graves, Interim HHS Program Leader & Assistant Director, Purdue Extension, Extension – Health and Human Sciences
• Valerie Knopik, PhD, Head of Department of Human Development and Family Science
• Andrea Marfell, Director of Donor Experience, Purdue For Life
• Kelsie Muller, Extension Specialist, Human Development, Extension – Health and Human Sciences

Faculty Partners

Faculty Partners of the Center for Families connect research and expertise with CFF’s activities and resources, linking individual scholarship to a broader, collaborative focus on families. Our partnerships promote collaboration, increase visibility, and enhance the real-world impact of family-focused research. Learn about current CFF Faculty Partners…

Founders & Visionary Leaders

The Center for Families was launched in 1994 through the vision and leadership of Purdue alumna Lorene Burkhart and a group of advocates and academic leaders who sought a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and supporting family life. Their early commitment laid the groundwork for a community of collaborators dedicated to advancing research, nurturing partnerships, and fostering lasting contributions to the study and well‑being of families. Learn who they are…

Advocates

Advocates of Center for Families are individuals and organizations whose generous support helps sustain and extend CFF’s work. Their contributions ensure that the Center can address evolving needs of families and strengthen resources that support family well-being now and into the future. Read more about Advocates…