Francesca Adler-Baeder, PhD., CFLE profile and information
Learn more about Francesca Adler-Baeder, PhD., CFLE
- AU Alumni Professor
- Human Sciences Professor
More bio information
Short Bio
Dr. Francesca Adler-Baeder is an Endowed Human Sciences Professor and AU Alumni Professor at Auburn University in Alabama. Her scholarly work is translational in nature and centers on the understanding and promotion of optimal relationship health, interpersonal competence, and family and individual resilience. Dr. Adler-Baeder has worked in collaboratives and consortia at Auburn and other institutions around the country and around the world for over two decades in the active bridging of relational health research and programs for youth and adults. This work includes program design, capacity-building with community partners, participatory research, and rigorous efficacy trials. She directs the long-running, statewide, community-based Alabama Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Initiative. Dr. Adler-Baeder also has served for multiple years as the evaluation partner of the Alabama Dept. of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, overseeing annual evaluation of 150+ prevention programs and fatherhood programs. She also established and directs the National Stepfamily Resource Center, a clearinghouse of research-informed resources.
Education
PhD.University of North Carolina at Greensboro1999
M.S.University of North Carolina at Greensboro1997
B.S.University of North Carolina at Pembroke1983
Professional Experience
2011 - present Professor, Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University
2005 - 2011 Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University
2001 - 2005 Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University
2001 - 2016 State Extension Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
1999 - 2001 Agent and Family Life Education Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Jefferson County
Innovation
For more than two decades, my scholarly work has centered on the proximal social determinants of health and the translational science of relational health, a previously understudied dimension of human health. My areas of expertise include the links among dimensions of health (i.e., physical health, mental health, and relational health), couple functioning, stepfamily dynamics, youth relationship skill development, community-based prevention programs, and implementation and evaluation science. My research integrates theory, rigorous methodology, and applied translation to develop and validate interventions that meaningfully improve the lives of youth, adults, and families across Alabama, the nation, and internationally. My work aligns with the land-grant mission, bridging university research with community needs through sustained partnerships and involving student learning. My portfolio includes longitudinal randomized controlled trials, measurement development and psychometric validation studies, large-scale statewide evaluations, and the development and broad dissemination of research-based curricula and tools.
Engagement
My service record reflects sustained departmental, institutional, state, national, and international engagement through committee, review, and leadership roles. Highlights include initial work to establish the Alabama HMRE Initiative through a collaborative infrastructure of 7 state agency partners, multiple local family resource centers, high schools, and a consortium of more than 300 community organizations as part of a referral network. Public engagement also includes the production at the end of each funding cycle of a publicly available federal report and user-friendly stakeholder reports of the healthy relationships work and the evaluations of child maltreatment prevention programs for broad distribution and use. My cross-institution leadership includes the invitation by the National Program Leader in Family and Community Extension/Outreach to establish and serve as the Director of the National Relationship and Marriage Education Network (with 13 land-grant institutions), through which multiple trainings and products were developed to guide the family life education practice focused on healthy relationship promotion. In addition, I developed and serve as Director of the National Stepfamily Resource Center, a national clearinghouse that disseminates research-informed resources and that has provided training for thousands of professionals working with stepfamilies. In recent years I have been working with international colleagues to establish a global stepfamily research and practice initiative, exploring opportunities for methods of cross-national scholarly engagement and collaboration.
Mentoring Students
My teaching and mentoring portfolio reflects a deep commitment to engaged learning. I am passionate about incorporating an active, learning lab within the research initiatives so that students co-create the advances in knowledge and impact. In addition to my years of classroom teaching on parenting and relationships, another 500+ undergraduates have gained professional experience, research training, and community-engaged learning opportunities through service-learning courses and internships, all involving one-on-one mentoring. I have been witness to students apply science in real-world contexts while building competencies in research, communication, teamwork, and evidence-based practice. Evaluations of these courses and experiences demonstrate significant gains in research competence, teaching efficacy, confidence, and professional readiness—findings that have been published, presented, and recognized nationally. In mentoring undergraduate students, I emphasize not only academic content but skill-building and reflective practice. Students consistently describe the learning environment as empowering, relational, and deeply developmental, assisting them with goals clarification and enhancing their motivation to push past their comfort boundaries to develop practical awareness, purpose, and concrete future plans. Recently, our team was invited to present at a national summit sponsored by the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services on our “near-peer” model utilizing undergraduates as facilitators of relationship education in high school health classes. We offered it for replication to other universities and community agencies as a cost-efficient, sustainable model that is mutually beneficial for students and communities.
In addition, mentoring emerging scholars and practitioners is a central thread of my career. I have mentored and launched 90+ graduate students into roles as professors, researchers, evaluators, human science practitioners, and leaders in state‑level HMRE initiatives—many now replicating and scaling similar initiatives across the country. Ninety of my 100+ peer‑reviewed publications include student co‑authors. Over $4 million in graduate assistantships (paid stipends and tuition benefits) were provided through AHMREI grants, expanding equitable access to advanced research training and strengthening a diverse pipeline of future family science scholars.
Additional websites and links
National Stepfamily Resource Center: https://www.stepfamilies.info/
Creative Research and Scholarship Award 2025:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRr6qEHdyo4
https://wire.auburn.edu/content/humsci/2025/11/171700-francesca-faculty-award.php
