Alexis Walker - chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences
Having been a birder for over a decade, Alexis Walker learned how to patiently wait, listen for, and site lazuli buntings, greater sage grouse, and long-billed curlews in Oregon’s many bird sanctuaries.
She uses the same keen combination of patience, listening, and observing in her new role as chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences.
Alexis Walker says the world would be a better place if generations gathered to spend more time baking cookies. “My mother always made cookies — for holidays, for me to take to school and share — there was always an emotional tone around food,” she remembers fondly. “I have a very vivid memory of my grandmother, mother, and aunt baking cookies for a family wedding. It was a real marathon, and when we were through, it took half of our suitcases just to pack the cookies…but the cookies came first.” It’s no wonder that for Alexis, cookies symbolize the care, love, and time it takes to nurture a family.
Perhaps being part of a loving family that respects generations is what drew Alexis to her career studying adults in family relationships. “It’s fascinating to see how we transition as adults and form close relationships with our parents,” she explains. “As we change as individuals, our families change too.” Alexis holds the JoAnne Petersen Chair in Gerontology and Family Studies, and she edited the prestigious Journal of Marriage and Family for six years.
In her new role as chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Alexis is using those same principles of acknowledging and maximizing strengths to align the department’s signature research and teaching areas: transitions across the life course; risk and resilience across the lifespan; and developmental and family research methods. “Academic disciplines are a bit like people. They have a lifespan and experience transitions,” she observes. “It’s good to stop and reflect on what we’ve done, what’s working, and what needs -tweaking.”
All HDFS students are required to complete an internship, and Alexis is excited about a new program with Extension that adds depth to their choices. “Extension Family and Community Development is all about making individual and family lives better. Putting interns in offices on campus and around the state will give our students great community-level and program-evaluation experience and show them how solid, evidence-based research is translated into practice.”
Alexis is also delighted to be back in the classroom as part of the college’s LINC Learn program, teaching a small, informal group of first-year students about navigating college life…and about bringing families and friends together by baking and sharing cookies.
