Alan J. Hawkins - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Alan J. Hawkins is a professor in the Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

(BYU) School of Family Life, a division of the university's College of Home Family and Social Sciences. Hawkins was one of the witnesses brought by the state of Iowa to argue against same-sex marriage in court.

Hawkins has done extensive research and written many publications on the role of fathers in child development, as well as on the role of pre-marital counseling and classes and other laws to reduce divorce rates. Hawkins currently serves as the chair of the Utah Commission on Marriage and as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Center for African American Marriages and Families at Hampton University

Hampton University

Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...

Personal life

Hawkins graduated from Ann Arbor Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kobe, Japan from 1974-1976.

Hawkins married Lisa Bolin in 1977 and they are the parents of two children and have two grandchildren.

Education and career

Hawkins holds a bachelors in psychology (1979) and Masters degree in organizational behavior (1984) from BYU

BYU

-Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...

and a doctorate in human developmente and family studies (1990) from Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

. He has been a member of the BYU faculty since 1990. In 2000 he was a visiting scholar with the National Fatherhood Initiative

National Fatherhood Initiative

The National Fatherhood Initiative is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization that aims to improve the well-being of children through the promotion of responsible fatherhood...

and from 2003-2004 he was a visiting scholar at the office of planning, research and evaluation of the Administration for Children and Families

Administration for Children and Families

The Administration for Children and Families is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services . It is headed by the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. It has a $58.8 billion budget for 65 programs that target children, youth and families...

, a part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services

United States Department of Health and Human Services

The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...

. Hawkins was also one of the developers of the Marriage Moments program. The plan for marriage education, with Hawkins as the lead author, was used by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton

Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in southern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the counties of Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, and Mercer ....

to run a federal government funded program to encourage marriage among African-American and Hispanic couples who were currently cohabiting. Hawkins also co-founded with David Dollahite the website FatherWork.

Hawkins focus in research has been on the importance of fathers and more recently on government educational initiatives to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages and relationships. He has also made statements questioning the wisdom of same-sex marriage, which have been quoted in articles by such commentators on the issue as Stanley Kurtz

Stanley Kurtz

Stanley Kurtz is an American social commentator who identifies with the conservative movement.-Career and works:He is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former Adjunct fellow with Hudson Institute, with a special interest in America's "culture wars." Kurtz writings on the...

.

Hawkins statements on issues such as covenant marriage have been quoted in papers throughout the United States, such as the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

on Feb, 11, 2001. His studies showing marriage makes a difference to men's lives are were cited in a Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii...

article.

Hawkins testimony for the state of Iowa (opposing same-sex marriage) in the case of Varnum v. Brien

Varnum v. Brien

Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 , is an Iowa court case in which six same-sex couples filed suit against Timothy Brien, Polk County Recorder, for refusing to grant marriage licenses to them...

Publications

Hawkins recently wrote a 168-page guidebook for individuals at the crossroads of divorce with Tamara Fackrell. A free electronic copy can be obtained here here The guidebook is designed to help individuals considering divorce, helping them think clearly about the decision, and providing research on important issues related to divorce and reconciliation. He edited with Lynn D. Wardle and David Orgon Coolidge

David Orgon Coolidge

David Orgon Collidge was the founder of The Marriage Law Project and was an editor, along with Lynn D. Wardle and Alan J. Hawkins, of the book Revitalizing Marriage in the Twenty-First Century: An Agenda for Strengthening Marriage....

Revitalizing the Institution of Marriage for the Twenty-First Century: An Agenda for Strengthening the Family (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2002). He also edited with Jay Fagan the book Clinical and Educational Interventions with Fathers. He also co-edited with David Dollahite

David Dollahite

David Dollahite is a professor of family life at Brigham Young University who specializes in the effects of religion on marriage, family life, and youth....

the book Generative Fathering: Beyond Deficit Perspectives. Hawkins was also one of eight principal authors of Twogether in Texas: Baseline Report for Marriage in the Lone-Star State.

Hawkins has written several articles. Among these are "Perspectives on Covenant Marriage" in The Family in America November 1998, Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 1–8.;
"Maternal Gatekeeping: Mothers Beliefs and behaviors that inhibit greater father involvement" (with Sarah M. Allen) in Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 61, no. 1; "Are Fathers Fungible" (with D. J. Eggebeen) in Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 53, no. 4, p. 958-972; "Exploring Wives Sense of Fairness About Family" (with several others, but he was lead author) Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 16, no. 6; "The Role of Father Involvement in Personality Change in Men Across the Transition to Parenthood" (with Jay Belsky) in Family Relations
Family Relations (journal)
Family Relations is a peer reviewed academic journal published on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations by Wiley-Blackwell. It covers family studies and social work research, educational practices or philosophies, and professional development for researchers, educators, family policy...

, Vol. 38, no. 4, p. 378-384.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.