Family Resiliency Center | Illinois

About

Who We Are and What We Do

Mission | Contact | Staff |External Advisory Board

The Family Resiliency Center is dedicated to advancing knowledge and practices that strengthen families’ abilities to meet life’s challenges and thrive. The Center accomplishes this through research, outreach, and education centered  around four themes: 

• Child and Family Health and Wellbeing
• Child Care as a Resource
• Immigrant Families and their Children.
• Positive Child and Youth Development

The Family Resiliency Center was established in 2006. It is an academic unit of the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences within the Department of Human and Community Development. 

CONTACT

Mission | Contact | Staff |External Advisory Board

FAMILY RESILIENCY CENTER STAFF

Mission | Contact | Staff |External Advisory Board

Barbara H. Fiese, Professor and Director; The Pampered Chef, Ltd. Endowed Chair in Family Resiliency
Barbara Fiese was named Director of the Family Resiliency Center in August 2008. She is Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the Department of Human and Community Development and holds affiliated appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Pediatrics.

Brenda Davis Koester, Assistant Director
Brenda Koester holds a BS in Speech Communication and an M.S. in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Email:  bkoester@illinois.edu
Telephone:  217-244-6486

Andrea Fierro, Office Support Specialist
Andrea Fierro provides clerical support, scheduling assistance, and other project-related tasks for Family Resiliency Center faculty and staff.  She is pursuing a bachelors degree from Eastern Illinois University. 
Email:  fierro3@illinois.edu
Telephone: 217-244-3967

EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD

Gary Evans, PhD
Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor, College of Human Ecology
Cornell University

Andrew Fuligni, PhD
Professor in Residence, Developmental Psychology
Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Professor in Residence, Semel Institute
University of California Los Angeles

Marlene Schwartz, PhD
Deputy Director
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Yale University

Thomas S. Weisner, PhD
Professor and Director, UCLA Center for Culture and Health
University of Califorinia Los Angeles

Click here for complete bios for External Advisory Board

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Ian Chong, Manager of Systems Services
Email:  ds-ccsg@illinois.edu
Telephone:  217-244-2883