Stephen Gavazzi

• PhD, Family Studies, School of Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 1991
• MA, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, School of Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 1985
• BA, Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, 1983

• Adolescent and At-Risk Youth
  • Alcohol and drug use
  • Delinquency
  • Educational gains
  • Exposure to trauma
  • Gang affiliation
  • Mental health issues
• Assessment
• Civic Education
  • Civitas
• Community/Youth Development and Organizations
  • Positive youth development
  • Primary prevention programming
• Family and Community Human Services
• Family Systems
  • Marriage and family therapy
• Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA)
  • Campus-community relationships
  • Town-gown relationships
• Human Development and Family Studies
  • Families with adolescents

Professor Gavazzi has established a research program that identifies the impact of family dynamics on adolescent development, psychopathology, and problem behavior. He is the author of the textbook Families with Adolescents: Bridging the Gaps Between Theory, Research, and Practice. Dr. Gavazzi also is known for his work on a variety of higher education issues. His book Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good (co-authored with E. Gordon Gee) was published in 2018 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Gavazzi and Gee also are co-authors of the book What’s Public About Public Higher Ed? Halting Higher Education’s Decline in the Court of Public Opinion that was published in October 2021 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Professor Gavazzi also co-edited (with David Staley) the book Fulfilling the 21st Century Land-Grant Mission that was published in 2020 by The Ohio State University Press.

• 2003 - Present Professor, The Ohio State University Department of Human Development and Family Science Family Science Program
• 2011-2017 Dean and Director, The Ohio State University and Mansfield Campus
• 1997 - 2003 Associate Professor The Ohio State University Department of Human Development and Family Science Family Science Program
• 1991 - 1997 Assistant Professor The Ohio State University Department of Family Relations and Human Development Marriage and Family Therapy Program

• Gavazzi, S. M., and Gee, E. G. (2021). What’s Public about Public Higher Ed? Halting Higher Education’s Decline in the Court of Public Opinion. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Curme, M., Rousmaniere, K., & Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). A Town-Gown Collaboration to Reduce College Student Alcohol Misuse. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. 
• Williams, R. B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M. E., Chaatsmith, M. L., Hoy, C., Low, J. N., & Snyder, B. W. (2021). Paying the Debt Owed by 1862 Land-Grant Universities: Balancing the Ledger with Tribal Nations and Colleges. Tribal College Journal. 
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Repentance. Native American and Indigenous Studies, 8, 157-161.
• Gavazzi, S. M., and Staley, D. C. (2020). Fulfilling the 21st century land-grant mission: Essays in honor of The Ohio State University’s sesquicentennial celebration. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2020). The Land-Grant Mission in the 21st Century: Promises Made and Promises to be Kept. Animal Frontiers, 10, 6-9.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2020). Teaching excellence: The core of the land-grant mission. Journal of Empowering Teaching Excellence, 4, 6-12.
• Bortz, P., Berrigan, M., Van Bergen, A., & Gavazzi, S. M. (2019). Family systems thinking as a guide for theory integration: Conceptual overlaps of differentiation, attachment, parenting style, and identity development in families with adolescents. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 11, 544-560.
• Gavazzi, S. M., and Gee, E. G. (2018). Land-grant universities for the future: Higher education for the public good. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2018). Campus and community leadership in the spotlight: How university presidents and city managers view town-gown relationships. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 11, 8-19.
• Shapiro, C., Malone, P., & Gavazzi, S. M. (2018). Modifying a risk assessment instrument for youthful offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62, 482-503.
• Gavazzi, S. M., (2015). Engaged institutions, responsiveness, and town-gown relationships: Why deep culture change must emphasize the gathering of community feedback. Planning for Higher Education, 43, 1-9.

• Phillips, J., & Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). How We Address Access, Equity, and Inclusion with a Focus on Native Peoples. Presentation and moderation of discussion at the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting (virtual).
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce while Insisting on Contrition and Repentance. Presentation at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference (virtual).
• Martin, S., & Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). Building Civic University Networks. Paper presentation at the United Kingdom Civic University Network Annual Conference (virtual).
• Carpenter-Hubin, J., Gavazzi, S. M., & Staley, D. J. (2021). Mission Matters: Understanding and Evaluating Land-Grant Universities. Paper presentation at the Association of Institutional Research Conference (virtual).
• Gavazzi, S. M., Betcher, G., & Patterson, S. (2020). Stories Matter: Creating Narratives about University-Community Partnerships in the Age of Coronavirus. Paper presentation at the International Town Gown Association Conference (virtual).
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2020). Land-Grant 101: Why the Land-Grant Mission Matters More than Ever During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Times of Social Unrest. Paper presentation at the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting (virtual).
• Gavazzi, S. M., Schuettler, R., George, D., Kovolski, C., & Wagoner, L. (2019). Assessing the Relationship Between Student Partying Behaviors and the Quality of Town-Gown Relationships: A Pilot Study with Pennsylvania Campuses and Communities. Paper presentation at the International Town Gown Association Conference, State College, PA.
• Gavazzi, S. M., Gee, E. G., & Sorber, N. (2019). Land-Grant Universities: Past, Present, and Future Issues that Define the Twenty-First Century Mission. Engaged Scholarship Consortium Conference, Denver, CO.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2018). Change and Collaboration with Community Partners: The Development and Maintenance of Harmonious Town-Gown Relationships. Keynote presentation at the Regional Branch Campus Administrators Conference, Long Beach Key, FL.
• Clouner, C., Curme, M., Darby, D., Gavazzi, S. M., Keary, D., & Saker, J. (2018). Facilitating Higher Quality Town-Gown Relationships through Data-Driven Alcohol Prevention Planning Efforts. Paper presentation at the International Town Gown Association Conference, Columbus, OH. 
• Gavazzi, S. M., & Clouner, C. (2018). Piloting the Use of Student Partying Items in Samples of College Students and College Town Residents. Paper presentation at the National Meeting of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse and Recovery, Columbus, OH.
• Gavazzi, S. M., Gee, E.G., Woodson, R., & Blank, R. (2017). Reconsidering Mr. Lincoln’s Land-Grant Universities: Taking Back the Future of American Public Higher Education. Paper presentation at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities Conference, Washington, DC.