The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) regrets to inform the academic community of the loss of one of the former editors of the Journal of Marriage and Family from 2002-2007, one of the field's finest scholars and a cherished friend and colleague. Alexis Joan Walker passed away on Sunday, July 8, 2012 in Portland, Oregon, at age 60 after a lengthy illness.

Alexis Walker was the Petersen Chair in Gerontology and Family Studies at the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Oregon State University in Corvallis. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1979 in Human Development and Family Studies. She began her career at the University of Oklahoma where she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. In 1986, her career took her to Oregon State where she was a Professor, Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) and Co-director of the Graduate Program in HDFS.

Alexis had numerous other professional achievements. She was NCFR's President from 1994-1995. She was one of the inaugural class of NCFR Fellows and was also a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America. At Oregon State, she won the Carl L. Anderson Outstanding Faculty Award. She served on the editorial boards for numerous journals. Her final award, announced just a week before her death, was the receipt of NCFR's Berardo Award for excellence in mentoring. Alexis passed away surrounded by a large family and she will remain in the memory of all of the colleagues and mentees whose lives she touched.

Memorial donations can be directed to the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis, OR 97330, or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A memorial service will be held this fall.