Position: Distinguished Research Professor, Co-Director of the Center for Aging Families, Director of the Center for Family & Demographic Research, and Co-Director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research
PhD, Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University
MA, Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University
BA, Sociology, University of Virginia
A family demographer, Dr. Brown examines the implications of the rapid transformation of American family life, with a focus on relationship dynamics and their consequences for well-being at various stages of the life course. Her scholarship on patterns of cohabitation, marriage, and divorce appears in leading journals such as Demography, Journals of Gerontology, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Social Forces. Dr. Brown is also the author of Families in America, published by the University of California Press. Her research has been supported by a career development award from NICHD as well as several grants from NIA.
Dr. Brown’s national leadership experience includes serving as Vice President of the Population Association of America, Vice President of the Association for Population Centers, Deputy Editor of Demography, and Chair of the NIH Population Sciences Subcommittee study section. She is currently Chair-Elect of the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) Section on Aging and the Life Course.
Dr. Brown is the recipient of several national awards, including the 2025 Distinguished Career Award from the ASA Family Section, the 2024 Outstanding Mentoring Award from the Section on Aging and the Life Course at ASA, and 2018 Clifford C. Clogg Award for Mid-Career Achievement from PAA. A recognized expert on topics ranging from gray divorce and repartnering in later life to marriage and family formation trends, Dr. Brown is regularly quoted in the national media.
