Stephen Russell

Russell has been an elected board member of the National Council on Family Relations (2005-2008), President of the Society for Research on Adolescence (2012-2014), and a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development (2019-2025), the Boards of the Council on Contemporary Families and the New York Institute for the Humanities and Social Studies. He is also on the board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's Board on Children, Youth and Families. Russell has served for many years on the Board of Directors for SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. His outstanding trainees who work with him include an amazing group of postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, to whom he dedicates himself, supporting their development and learning from them, which he considers to be among the most satisfying parts of his job.

Dr. Russell studies adolescent development, with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. Much of his research is guided by a commitment to create social change to support healthy development. His research has been used to shape local and state policies and laws for school safety. His research interests include LGBTQ youth health and rights; programs and policies to improve human development; and cultural processes in families.