Dr. John DeFrain is Professor Emeritus of family science in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Before coming to UNL, he was a newspaper reporter in Lincoln for five years while working his way through college; and on the Seattle faculty of The Little School/Pacific Oaks College, a postgraduate teacher training program based in Seattle, and Pasadena and offering early childhood education certification in both states of Washington and California. In 1975, he received his doctorate in family studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, focusing on parent education, family therapy, and child development.
From 1976 to 1984 he co-directed a joint graduate training program in family therapy at UNL, and has done extensive consulting for courts and families on marriage, divorce, and custody issues. He was a co-founder of the National Symposium on Building Family Strengths which, for ten years, focused attention on nationwide efforts to enhance family relationships.
Dr. DeFrain has co-authored and co-edited 15 books, including: Coping with Sudden Infant Death (with Jacque Taylor and Linda Ernst, published in 1982) Secrets of Strong Families (with Nick Stinnett, published in 1985) Stillborn: The Invisible Death (with Leona Martens, Jan Stork, and Warren Stork, published in 1986) On Our Own: A Single Parent's Survival Guide (with Judy Fricke and Julie Elmen, published in 1987 etc.