Research Advisory Group

Leading marriage experts, state government officials, and highly respected researchers from across the nation serve as the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative Research Advisory Group. The purpose of this group is to provide professional expertise to guide research efforts and to apply findings to the development of future programs and services.

OMI Research Advisory Group Members:

OMI Research Advisory Group Ex Officio Members:

Dr. Amato is a Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include marital quality, the causes and consequences of divorce, and subjective well-being over the life course. He has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters, along with four books, including (with Alan Booth) A Generation at Risk: Growing Up in An Era of Family Upheaval, which was published by Harvard University Press in 1997. He received the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations for the best published article on the family in 1993, 1999, and 2001. He received the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award from the American Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in 2002, the Distinction in the Social Sciences Award from Pennsylvania State University in 2003, and the Distinguished Career Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association in 2006.
Back to top

Ms. Dion is a Research Psychologist at Mathematica Policy Research Inc., which has offices in Washington D.C. and Princeton, NJ. This widely respected research firm has conducted studies in health care, welfare, education, employment and nutrition. Robin is currently the Principal Investigator for a federally funded research project, Strengthening Families with a Child Born Out-of-Wedlock. The project grows out of the Fragile Families research project directed by Sara McLanahan (Princeton University) and Irwin Garfinkle (Columbia University).
Back to top

Dr. Edin is Professor of Public Policy and Management at Harvard University - John F Kennedy School of Government. Edin's research interests include poverty and social inequality, urban and community sociology, family and gender, and public policy. She is Co-Principal Investigator for "Couple Dynamics and Father Involvement," a qualitative study of 75 low-income married and unmarried couples with young children in Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York City. The project aims to understand how some couples with very young children break up while others remain together, how some fathers remain actively involved in their role as parent while others do not, and how couple and parenthood dynamics early in a child's life affect the child's development. The project is an offshoot of the Fragile Families study.
Back to top

Dr. Fournier is a Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy and Family Sciences at Oklahoma State University. In 1977, his research with colleagues at the University of Minnesota evaluated a variety of marriage preparation programs and created the first version of PREPARE-ENRICH as part of a major research program on marriage preparation and marriage adjustment. He is co-author and developer of the PREPARE-ENRICH Inventories. Since their inception, the Inventories have become the most widely used relationship inventories in the United States. He has published over 35 articles, book chapters and other writings in addition to over 100 scientific presentations at professional meetings. Dr. Fournier has also authored assessments on family stress, parent-adolescent conflict, work-family conflict, premarital conflict and marriage education. He is a past president of the Oklahoma Association for Marriage & Family Therapy and currently serves on the Licensing board in Oklahoma.
Back to top

Dr. Glenn is the Ashbel Smith Professor of Sociology and Stiles Professor of American Studies at the University of Texas. Glenn specializes in family sociology, social change and survey research. He has been involved with numerous national social indicator surveys on marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and out-of-wedlock births. His recent research deals with various issues relating to mate selection and marital matching.
Back to top

Dr. Haskins is a Senior Fellow of Economic Studies and Co-Director of the Welfare Reform and Beyond Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He is also a Senior Consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, MD. From February 2002 Ron was the Senior Advisor to the President for Welfare Policy at the White House. Prior to joining Brookings and Casey, he spent 14 years on the staff of the House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee, first as welfare counsel to the Republican staff, then as the subcommittee's staff director. In addition, Ron has authored many books and articles on the subject of welfare and welfare reform. Previously Ron served as a Research Professor at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Back to top

Howard H. Hendrick has been director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services since July 1, 1998. With offices in all 77 counties, Director Hendrick leads a staff of 7,500 employees and administers a $1.6 billion budget. Hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans are touched daily by more than 40 state and federal human services programs administered under his leadership. Director Hendrick currently serves as Cabinet Secretary for Human Services for Democratic Governor Brad Henry and served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Human Services for former Republican Governor Frank Keating.
Back to top

Dr. Johnson is the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at Oklahoma State University and Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. She specializes in research methodology and design, including program evaluation and needs assessment. Her research interests include marital relations, adolescent adjustment, and research methodologies. In this capacity Johnson has designed and implemented several studies on marriage and romantic relationships. Examples of such projects include the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative “Statewide Baseline Survey on Marriage and Divorce in Oklahoma”, “Marriage and Divorce in Utah – Statewide Survey”, and “Transition to Parenthood: Oklahoma Couples Having a Baby Funded by Medicaid”. She was awarded the 2002 Excellence in Program Evaluation Award by the American Evaluation Association (Extension Education Evaluation Group). Dr. Johnson was the founding Director of the OSU Bureau for Social Research which provides resources and technical services for facilitating social and behavioral science studies sponsored by public and private organizations, as well as the OSU community.
Back to top

Dr. Jordan is an Associate Professor of Family and Child Nursing at the University of Washington and developer of the Becoming Parents Program. Her research focuses on the transition to parenthood and supporting individuals and couples as they become parents. She has developed a middle range theory of the experience of expectant and new fatherhood, and her work with fathers continues to inform the care of men as they become parents. The Becoming Parents Program, for couples becoming parents for the first time, teaches knowledge and survival skills for taking care of their couple relationship, taking care of themselves, relating to their baby, and dealing with the many ways becoming parents impacts their lives.
Back to top

Dr. Markman is a professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver in Colorado. He is internationally known for his work on the prediction and prevention of divorce and the effects of destructive conflict, healthy marriages and relationship distress on mental health and well-being. He has published numerous scholarly articles, books and chapters on his work, including the book, "Fighting for Your Marriage: Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love." As a Co-Founder of the research-based PREP approach h e has appeared nationally on many network programs. Howard and his colleagues are starting the 23 year follow-up of a sample of couples married in the early 1980's, evaluating adaptations of the PREP program in Norway and the US Army, and also starting a new study examining the circumstances in which cohabitation is a risk factor for future relationship problems.
Back to top

Ms. Myrick is the President of Public Strategies, an Oklahoma-based firm, and Project Manager for the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI). The OMI is widely recognized as the country's first statewide, comprehensive program model for changing a state's divorce culture and creating/providing services to reflect a broad-based commitment to family formation and marriage. Under Myrick's leadership the OMI has recruited a highly-distinguished Research Advisory Board consisting of state and national experts on marriage, divorce, and low-income families; has developed and implemented the first comprehensive statewide survey to assess marriage/divorce values and demographics; is implementing a multi-sector strategy, collaborating with multiple state agencies, service providers, educators, religious institutions, businesses and the media; and has launched a statewide skills-based Marriage and Relationship Education Service Delivery System, utilizing the research-based PREP as its core curriculum. Myrick speaks nationally about the successful OMI model and has provided hours of technical assistance to several states and communities committed to implementing their own marriage initiatives.
Back to top

Our colleague and friend, Steven Nock, passed away early in 2008. His intellect, energy, and compassion were unmatched, and his passing is a loss to our group and the field--a loss we feel deeply. Dr. Nock was a Professor of Sociology, Director of the Marriage Matters project, and Co-Founder of the Center for Children, Families and the Law. He authored six books and over seventy scholarly articles. His research focused on the causes and consequences of change in the American family. He also focused on the role of public policy. His most recent research was the Marriage Matters project. This ongoing effort examines and evaluates the legal policy innovation known as Covenant Marriage in Louisiana.
Back to top

Ms. Ooms is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) in Washington D.C. At CLASP she works on couples and marriage policy with a special interest in low-income families. A former social worker and family therapist, she directed the Family Impact Seminar for 17 years. She has edited and authored numerous publications on teen pregnancy, unwed fathers, family involvement in schools, and couples and marriage. Ooms is also a Senior Program Consultant to the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative.
Back to top

Dr. Stanley is Co-Director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver. He has published widely both research reports as well as writings for couples, with a key focus on commitment theory and research. He is also a Senior Program Advisor to the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative.
Back to top

Other regular and important participants in Research Advisory Group meetings include: Farilyn Ballard, Chief Operating Officer, Human Services Centers, DHS; Raymond Haddock, Chief Operating Officer, Vertically Integrated Services Division, DHS; JoAnne Eason, Public Strategies, Inc.; Kendy Cox, Public Strategies, Inc.; and Debbie Andersen, Chief of Child Guidance, Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Back to top