Gerald Mahoney, PhD. is the Verna Houck Motto Professor of Families and Community at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. He received his doctoral degree from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in mental retardation research and special education. He previously held faculty positions at UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Connecticut and Winthrop University. From 1991 through 2001, Dr. Mahoney was the director of the Family Child Learning Center, an early intervention research and training center sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Akron. Dr. Mahoney’s research has focused primarily on parent and family influences on children’s development and social emotional functioning. He has published numerous studies on parent influences on the development of children at-risk or with disabilities, as well as on the application of research findings from the parent-child literature to early intervention practice.