Rachel Dunifon is the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology. As dean of the college since 2020, she led the development of Vision 2030, which unified the college's scholarship around the themes of health equity; sustainability and society; and technology and human health. She has overseen the creation of the Action Research Collaborative, the Purpose Science & innovation Exchange, the Joan Klein Jacobs Center for Precision Nutrition and Health, and the CHE in NYC initiative. She was also instrumental in Human Ecology becoming the first Engaged College through an initiative with the Cornell Einhorn Center.
Dunifon’s research focuses on child and family policy, examining the ways in which policies, programs and family settings influence the development of less-advantaged children. Her book, You’ve Always Been There for Me: Understanding the Lives of Grandchildren Raised by Grandparents (2018) draws upon unique multi-method data to understand dynamics in households in which grandparents are raising their grandchildren.
As PI Dunifon has won numerous externally funded research grants, including from the National Institutes of Health, the USDA, and the William T. Grant Foundation. Her work has been published in top journals in developmental psychology, public policy, and family demography.
Dunifon studies child and family policy, with a focus on factors influencing the development of less-advantaged children. Specific research topics include the relationship between maternal employment conditions and children's health and development; the well-being of children in various family living arrangements, such as single-parenthood and cohabitation; and the role of grandparents in the lives of youth. Her forthcoming book, You've Always Been there for Me (Rutgers University Press) examines the lives of grandchildren who are raised by their grandparents.
Her work has been supported by a wide range of sources. Rachel was awarded the William T. Grant Foundation's inaugural Institutional Challenge Grant Award. She was also awarded an R01 grant from the Eunice Kennedy Schriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the influence on children of maternal employment patterns.
Dunifon's research has been published in Demography, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Marriage and Family.
Dunifon, Rachel (2018). “You’ve Always Been there for Me”: Understanding the Lives of Children Raised by Grandparents. Rutgers University Press.
Dunifon, Rachel, Chris Near and Kathleen Ziol-Guest (2018). Backup Parents, Playmates, Friends: Grandparents’ Time with Grandchildren. Journal of Marriage and Family. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12472
Dunifon, Rachel, Paula Fomby and Kelly Musick (2017). Siblings and Children’s Time Use in the United States. Demographic Research, 37: 1611-1624.
Amorim, Mariana, Rachel Dunifon and Natasha Pilkauskas (2017). The Magnitude and Timing of Grandparental Coresidence During Childhood in the United States. Demographic Research, 37(52): 1695-1706.
Crosnoe, Rob and Rachel Dunifon (2017). “A Developmental Perspective on the Link Between Parents’ Employment and Children’s Obesity”. American Psychologist, 72(5): 474-486.
Su, Jessica and Rachel Dunifon (2016). “Nonstandard Schedules and Private Safety Nets Among Working Mothers”. Journal of Marriage and Family. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12358
Meier, Anne, Kelly Musick, Sarah Flood and Rachel Dunifon (2016). “Mothering Experiences: How Single-Parenthood and Employment Shift the Emotional Valence of Parenting”. Demography, 53: 649-674.
Pilkauskas, Natasha, and Rachel Dunifon (2016). “Understanding Grandfamilies: Characteristics of Grandparents, Nonresident Parents, and Children”. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78: 623-633.
Su, Jessica, Rachel Dunifon, and Sharon Sassler (2015). “Better for Baby? The Retreat from Mid-Pregnancy Marriage and Implications for Parenting and Child Well-Being”. Demography, 52(4): 1167-1194.
Dunifon is an active member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the Population Association of America, the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research and the Cornell Population Center.
Dean, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University
1999,
Ph.D.,
Human Development & Social Policy,
Northwestern University
1998,
M.A.,
Human Development & Social Policy,
Northwestern University
1994,
B.A., cum laude,
Psychology,
Davidson College
I am blown away by our community's passion for their work, the breadth and quality of what they do, and the impact they will have on our College.
Rachel Dunifon
