NCFR Past President Michael J. Sporakowski, Ph.D., CFLE, passed on June 9, 2023, at the age of 82. Dr. Sporakowski was NCFR’s 53^rd president from 1995-96, an NCFR Fellow, and a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) for 34 years. He was an NCFR member for 60 years and served as editor of Family Relations from 1982-86. Dr. Sporakowski held several positions on the FR Board and also supported the CFLE credential program. He served NCFR at the state and regional levels as president of the Virginia Council on Family Relations, 1972-76, as well as president of the Southeastern Council on Family Relations, 1979-81.  

Dr. Sporakowski earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Penn State University, his doctorate in sociology from Florida State University, and a postdoc at the University of Minnesota as NIMH-post doctoral trainee in marriage counseling. He was an approved supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). He was assistant professor, family relationships in home economics at the University of Illinois. He then joined Virginia Tech in 1970, as a professor in the Department of Family and Child Development. He chaired several committees and departments, including the Commission on Graduate Studies and Policies, as well as graduate studies, and was a Virginia Cooperative Extension Specialist for family and child development. Dr. Sporakowski was named a professor emeritus of Human Development, Virginia Tech. 

Dr. Sporakowski was a leader in Family Science and family therapy with a particular interest in the intersection of financial counseling and family therapy, as well as lessons from longtime marital unions. In addition to his dedicated efforts toward NCFR, he was a prolific author of articles, extension curricula, and edited several books. For several consecutive years, he published the Family Life Education Teachers Kit, which focused on the 10 content areas of Family Life Education.

You can read his full obituary here. 

Dr. Sporakowski will be eulogized during the annual memorial service at the 2023 NCFR Annual Conference. The names of any NCFR members who have recently died are read aloud at this service. Members who have served as an NCFR board member, journal editor, or are conferred NCFR Fellow status are given a eulogy.  

If you learn of an NCFR member who has passed away, please email [email protected].