NCFR Executive Director Diane Cushman plans to retire in August 2024.

Diane will continue to lead the NCFR staff until her retirement date with the hope that a new executive director will be identified by this time and will be ready to begin their tenure with NCFR.

Celebrating Diane’s Leadership

During her 17-year-tenure as executive director, Diane spearheaded the effort to create a clear identity for the Family Science discipline. She is deeply grateful for the many contributions of members that made this work possible. Your efforts were pivotal in increasing the visibility of all aspects of Family Science and recognizing the invaluable contributions made by those dedicated to the well-being of families.

Under her leadership, the NCFR staff flourished and survived two office moves, the global pandemic, and — in response to the pandemic and other societal issues— altered its annual conference format three times in a span of four years. Diane identified the need to add various specialists to the NCFR staff to better compete with other social science associations, and enable NCFR to add to its programming and other capabilities.

Diane’s time at NCFR coincided with a transitional time for all academic societies. In addition to facing shifts in social and political issues, Diane helped NCFR grow its programming in response to major changes in how academic journals are published, and an overall trend of decline in association memberships around the world.

The numerous NCFR programs introduced during Diane’s tenure include Webinars, the NCFR Honors Program, Resume/CV review, Mentoring Academy, Teaching Tuesdays, Theory Thursdays, CFLE Conversations, the Family Life Education Assessment Exam, the Family Life Education Virtual Summit, the NCFR Board of Directors’ Student Access Grant program, the NCFR Olson Grant, and the NCFR Darling Family Life Education Research Initiative Grant.

What is Next?

In the coming weeks, I will appoint a search committee consisting of NCFR members. This committee will be tasked with identifying and interviewing for the next executive director. They will make a recommendation to the Board of Directors, who will make the final decision.

If you have questions, please let me know.
Bethany L. Letiecq, Ph.D. (pronouns: she, hers)
President, NCFR