Author Biography
Jerry J. Bigner, PhD, was a Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523, and retired in 2004 after 36 years of service in higher education. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of life-span human development, parent-child relations, theories of human development and family studies, marriage and family relationships, early childhood education, and research methods in human development and family studies. He also completed all course work and practicum requirements in marriage and family therapy and worked towards licensure in this area. His text, Parent-Child Relations, is now in its 9th edition, and he published two texts in life-span human development and family studies. He is the author or co-author of over 50 research articles focusing primarily on parent-child relations as well as relationship and family therapy issues. He was Editor of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies and served on Editorial Board of the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy. He was a research member of the American Family Therapy Academy and was a member of the National Council on Family Relations. Dr. Bigner was a 2005 Centennial Laureate Award recipient of the College of Human Sciences, Florida State University. He also was the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient of the College of Human Sciences, Florida State University. Clara Gerhardt, MBA, PhD., is a Professor of Family Studies at Samford University. She is a Clinical Psychologist, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a Certified Family Life Educator. Amongst her many publications, she documented the history of family therapy in a book chapter on global perspectives in family therapy. She writes Perspectives, a regular column, for a publication of the National Council on Family Relations. She has held positions as Chair of the Department of Family Studies and Chair of a State Board of Examiners in Psychology. As an Educator, she teaches Parenting, Lifespan Development, and Multicultural Perspectives. As part of her duties as Internship Supervisor, she has mentored Child Life as well as Child Development Education students. Dr. Gerhardt is the product of three continents, has professionally presented on six continents, has visited over sixty countries, and speaks five languages fluently. Her practical training is constantly updated by being a parent and a grandparent.
