North Dakota State University

Kristen Benson (Ph.D., Virginia Tech)
Assistant Professor 
Office Phone: 701-231-5879
Email:kristen.benson@ndsu.edu 
Core Area: Couple and Family Therapy 
Research Interests: gender identity and family/partner relationships, diversity issues in family therapy, collaborative approaches to family therapy education and training, and qualitative methodology 

Elizabeth Blodgett Salafia (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame)
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701- 231-7099
Email: Elizabeth.salafia@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Adolescent Development 
Research Interests: Family and peer influences on adolescents disordered eating attitudes and behaviors 
Eating Disorder and Body Image Lab 

Sean Brotherson (Ph.D., Oregon State University)
Extension Family Science Specialist, Associate Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-6143
Email: sean.brotherson@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Family Science
Research Interests: Parenting and fatherhood; Health marriages; Family stress; Rural families; Grief and bereavement; Family life education; Family policy 

Debra DeWitz, LICSW
Social Work Program, Minot State University
Dual Degree Liaison, NDSU Campus
Office Phone: 701-231-9792
Email: debra.dewitz@minotstateu.edu 

Margaret Fitzgerald (Ph.D., Iowa State University)
Professor 
Office Phone: 701-231-8280
Email:margaret.fitzgerald@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Family Economics and Policy 
Research Interests: Financial counseling and planning; Husbands and wives who own and operate family businesses together; Family business and economically vulnerable/viable communities; Gender and management issues in family business 

Heather Fuller-Iglesias (Ph.D., University of Michigan)
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-5621
Email:Heather.Fuller-Iglesias@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Adult Development and Aging
Research Interests: Social relationships across the lifespan (e.g. intergenerational relationships); Psychological well-being in old age; Culture and Aging; Migration, transnationalism and acculturation; Biculturalism 

Joel Hektner (Ph.D., University of Chicago)
Associate Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8269
Email: joel.hektner@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Child, Adolescent Development
Research Interests: Aggressive children; Research methods; Prevention programs for high-risk aggressive children; Peer affiliation patterns and peer influences on children's behaviors; Family and school conditions that facilitate optimal experiences (flow) and optimal development; The Experience Sampling Method 

Nancy Kaler (M.S., University of North Dakota)
Senior Lecturer
Office Phone: 701-231-7843
Email: Nancy.Kaler@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Consumer education, internships in HDFS 

Christi McGeorge (Ph.D., University of Minnesota)
Associate Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-7335
Email: Christine.McGeorge@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Couple and Family Therapy and Family Science 
Research Interests: Heterosexism and homophobia; Single parenting; Women's history; Gender socialization from a feminist perspective

Melissa Lunsman O'Connor (Ph.D., University of South Florida)
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8268
Email:melissa.oconnor@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Adult Development and Aging
Research Interests: Examining age-related differences and changes in cognitive and functional abilities, such as driving, among healthy adults and clinical populations; quantitative methods and psychometrics; interventions for improving cognition, health, and everyday functioning; and attitudes toward dementia.

Debra Pankow (Ph.D., South Dakota State University)
Extension Family Economics Specialist, Associate Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8593
Email: debra.pankow@ndsu.edu 
Core Area: Family Economics
Research Interests: Family economics; Rural and women's economic issues; Retirement preparation; Youth spending; Locus of control; Quality of life 

Candace Philbrick (Ph.D., North Dakota State University)
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8268
Email: Candace.philbrick@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Gerontology 

Sharon Query (Ph.D., Iowa State University)
4-H Youth Specialist/Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-5923
Email: Sharon.Query@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Consumer and Family Sciences, Adolescent Development, Afterschool Training. 

Brandy A. Randall (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Associate Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8742
Email: Brandy.Randall@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Child, Adolescent Development
Relational and contextual influences on adolescents' and young adults' positive and problem behaviors

Tom Stone Carlson (Ph.D., Iowa State University)
Associate Professor, CFT Program Coordinator
Office Phone: 701-231-8279
Email: tom.carlson@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Couple and Family Therapy and Family Science 
Research Interests Include: influence of homophobia and heterosexism on clinical practice and training, evaluation of LGBT affirmative therapy competence among therapists, evaluation of feminist and social justice training practices and influence of spirituality of clinical practice and training.

Wendy Troop-Gordon (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-8738
Email: Wendy.Troop@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Child, Adolescent Development; Research Methods and Statistics
Research Interests: Peer victimization; social cognition; contextual factors that influence social interactions among children; forms of aggression and their relation to psychological and school adjustment; the impact of self- and peer-perceptions on well-being 

Ann Werlinger (M.S., North Dakota State University)
Lecturer
Office: EML 277E 
Phone is 231-9790
Email: Ann.Werlinger@ndsu.edu 

Rebecca Woods (Ph.D., Texas A&M University)
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: 701-231-9791
Email: Rebecca.woods@ndsu.edu
Core Area: Infant & toddler development
Research Interests: Perception and cognition in infancy; object processing; multimodal processing
Infant Cognitive Development Lab 

Dena Wyum (M.S., North Dakota State University)
Lecturer: Human Development and Family Science and Women and Gender Studies
Office Phone: 701-231-77553
Email: Dena.Wyum@ndsu.edu 

Family Therapy Center
Michelle Pearson, Coordinator
Email: Michelle.Pearson@ndsu.edu

HDFS Office Staff 
Theresa Anderson: Academic Assistant 
Email:Theresa.Anderson@ndsu.edu