Ronald Cox, Jr.

Oklahoma State University

Biographical Abstracts

Ronald B. Cox, Jr., is a professor of human development and family science at Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he also serves as state specialist with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. He holds the George Kaiser Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Child and Family Resilience and is the founding director of the OSU Center for Immigrant Health and Education.

Trained as a marriage and family therapist, Dr. Cox’s research focuses on identifying social determinants of health and education for diverse families and translating findings into psychoeducational programs. He developed several evidence-based interventions, including United We Can/Unidos Se Puede, Co-Parenting for Resilience/Crianza Compartida and Strong Dads/Papás Fuertes. His work has been supported by NIH, USDA/NIFA, SAMHSA, OJJDP, the State of Oklahoma, and private foundations.

Combining insights from linguistics and family science, Cox recently coined the term Shared Language Erosion to explain the declines in health indicators among immigrant populations across generations. He is currently spearheading this work with Latino and Chinese immigrant families with NIH and NCFR funding.

Cox holds a doctorate from Michigan State University. He has received multiple honors for his community-engaged research, including the Outstanding Engagement Award (Board on Human Sciences/APLU), the Extension Family Life and Human Development Career Impact Award (NIFA), National Extension Diversity Award (Extension Committee on Organization and Policy/USDA/NIFA), and the Regents Distinguished Research Award and the Public Impact Research Award (both from OSU). Cox also actively contributes to community well-being through service on the boards of local nonprofits serving Oklahoma families.

Areas of Expertise

• Translational science
• Parental involvement
• Immigrant families
• Divorcing families