About the Center for Families
Founded in 1994, the Center for Families at Purdue University is a concrete reminder that families, in all their diverse forms, are the foundation of society.
CFF serves as a catalyst to integrate outreach, teaching, and research activities that support families. This is accomplished through increased and enhanced collaborations among academic disciplines, professionals, policymakers, corporations and community organizations.
Established within the Department of Child Development and Family Studies in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences (now the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the College of Health and Human Sciences) at Purdue University, its mission is to work to improve the quality of life for families.
CFF provides a way for faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to bring about change focused on families, an issue about which they are deeply passionate, and a change that is even more lasting than bricks and mortar. These caring partners have both extended and focused the efforts of the school and created possibilities for collaborations seldom imagined in the past.
Our Community
Staff
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 work, including the funding program and work with faculty partners.
Rob Duncan, Associate Director for Policy
A member of the Purdue University faculty since 2017, Rob received his doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies and a Masters of Public Health in Biostatistics from Oregon State University. His research is broadly focused on understanding the connections between children’s early environments and their development of school readiness skills (e.g., language abilities, self-regulation, executive function, academic achievement). Rob is currently teaching the Child and Family Health Policy course at Purdue. He is responsible for leading the center’s policy-related efforts.
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 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.
Kate Kester, Senior Program 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.
Advisory Council
- JoAnna Brown, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Housing & Community Development, Sagamore Institute
- Lorene McCormick Burkhart, Founding Donor, CFF; Burkhart Network
- Deborah Myers Cook, Founding Advocate, CFF; Retired, Certified Financial Planner
- Elizabeth Day, PhD, Research Assistant Professor with the HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice, University of Oregon
- Travis Dorsch, PhD, Associate Professor, Founding Director of the Families in Sport Lab, Human Development and Family Studies, Kinesiology and Health & Science, Utah State University
- Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington
- Jane Horner, Health and Human Science Extension Educator, Purdue Extension
- Sheila Klinker, Indiana House of Representatives
- Betty Levien Krejci, Advocate, CFF; Former CFF Staff, Retired Fundraising Professional
- Candice Lange, Retired, Work-life and Diversity; Former Director of the Jane Brock-Wilson Women in Management Center in the Krannert School
- Bob Miles, Advocate, CFF; Bob Miles & Associates
- Joyce Miles, Advocate, CFF; Joyce B. Miles & Associates
- Jeremy Reynolds, PhD, Professor, Sociology, Purdue University
- Oliver Wendt, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, Cognitive and Emotional Disabilities, College of Human Sciences, University of Potsdam; Director of the Potsdam AAC Research Lab, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
Ex Officio Advisory Council Members
- Angela Abbott, EdD, RDN, LD, Assistant Dean and Associate Director, Extension – Health and Human Sciences
- Robert Duncan, PhD, Associate Director for Policy, CFF; Assistant Professor HDFS & Public Health
- Melissa Franks, PhD, Director, Center for Families; Associate Professor, HDFS
- Christy Harrison, Director of Development, College of Health and Human Sciences
- Valerie Knopik, PhD, Head of Department of Human Development and Family Studies
- Aaron Kosdrosky, Chief Development Officer, College of Health and Human Sciences
- Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, PhD, Director Emerita, CFF; Distinguished Professor, HDFS
- Marion K. Underwood, PhD, Dean of College of Health and Human Sciences
It started by answering a question.
In 1994, Purdue alumna Lorene Burkhart and a group of advocates worked to bring about change at Purdue – an interdisciplinary approach to research about families. Not just a department, but a community. Their actions ensured the center’s longevity for future generations. We are able to pursue projects when grants aren’t possible. The Center for Families still creates a patchwork of projects that serve to improve the quality of life for families in all their diverse forms.