Professor Stephen Russell
“My jaw literally dropped.”
Stephen Russell remembers when, in a job interview, a UA dean said his work with gay and lesbian teens was important: My jaw literally dropped.
“Most faculty don’t get tenure at the mid-point of their careers for investigating LGBTQ issues. It’s not the norm,” Stephen explains. “So hearing that from a dean was shocking, but very affirming.” Stephen’s research on how young people straddle different cultures is important, and not just for kids at risk.
“The study of vulnerable kids - gay kids, kids from immigrant families, whoever is outside of the norm of what we take for granted as typical in American life - helps us understand the experience of all kids. That’s what leads to innovation in science and better parenting education, teacher training modules, workshops for youth volunteers - concrete things that make a difference.”
Stephen T. Russell is the Fitch Nesbitt Endowed Chair in Family and Consumer Sciences at the Norton School of Family & Consumer Sciences.
