Most importantly, Jon is husband to Jennifer Lee; they celebrated 36 years of marriage in June 2023! Jon and Jen have two daughters; Jalen holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in viola performance from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and works for the Aspen Music School and Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Jordan has completed her anthropology and archeology studies at the University of Kentucky (BS 2019), and her graduate degree in the same field, from NAU in 2022. Jennifer is a former primary grades teacher, children's librarian, and Assistant Academic Director for the University of Cincinnati’s Early Childhood Education department, Coordinator of Practicum Experiences at NAU, and now is the ProgramCoordinator for the Department of Special Education, Early Childhood, and Prevention Science in the College of Education and Human Development at the UofL. Jon and Jen have lived their lives as educators and are proud of it!
With 37 years of experience, Jon is a long time Early Childhood Special Educator and public-school administrator for early childhood programs. Jon has returned to the University of Louisville as the Director of the UofL Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC). Jon’s research and teaching focuses on issues relating to family impact on very young children’s emergent literacy development; factors pertaining to children’s social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment to schooling; and applications of Motivational Interviewing (MI) in educational contexts. Jon and the family originally moved to Louisville Kentucky in 2000 where he held appointments with the National Center for Family Literacy, Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville. Jon earned promotion and tenure during his six-year appointment with the University of Cincinnati, and again (May 2021) an Associate Professor of Education at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Jon is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, and is trained in the use of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) code. Jon works with a highly successful research consortium, whose current research is funded by IES and includes adaptations of the First Step Next early intervention program for preschool-aged children (R324A150221) and children with tertiary behavior challenges in primary classrooms (R324A090237 and R324A150179), as well as the development of educational interventions utilizing MI in various contexts (R324A190173). As the Director of the ECRC Jon will support PhD students, Early Childhood faculty and programs, liaison with the Early Learning Center, and help lead the research efforts of the ECRC.
