UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Over the past five years, Rina Das Eiden and Jenae Neiderhiser have forged a close working relationship as colleagues in Penn State’s Department of Psychology. Recently, their collaboration began a significant new phase when they were appointed co-directors of the College of the Liberal Arts’ Child Study Center (CSC).
Eiden, professor of psychology, and Neiderhiser, distinguished professor of psychology and human development and family studies (HDFS), succeed Karen L. Bierman, Evan Pugh University Professor of psychology and HDFS, who led the CSC for 14 years.
Eiden and Neiderhiser jointly applied for the position earlier this year, putting together a proposal selling the “complementary but individual strengths” they would both bring to the role, Neiderhiser said.
“And it made it more appealing to us to have a ‘partner in crime,’ as it were,” Neiderhiser said. “I don’t aspire to be an administrator — I like the research I do, I collaborate widely with people inside and outside of Penn State, I have a lot on my plate. But I really respect the center and the idea of working to move things forward with Rina made the role appealing.”
Eiden agreed.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for the two of us taking this on together — Jenae and I work very well together,” Eiden said. “I see the role as a service that’s meaningful to our faculty and students.”
Bierman said she “cannot imagine a better leadership team” than Eiden and Neiderhiser.
“It is very exciting to hear the vision that Jenae and Rina have for the next phase of CSC growth and development,” Bierman said. “Their combined expertise and passion are exactly what CSC needs. I look forward to supporting their efforts as they move forward with their innovative plans.”
In recent years, Eiden and Neiderhiser, who are both Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty, have co-mentored graduate students and post-docs, and collaborated on several research projects, including two pilot studies focused on rural health care issues affecting children and parents.
Both were quick to praise Bierman’s highly impactful leadership of the CSC, which celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year. Dedicated to using collaborative scientific research to improve children’s lives, the center now supports six interdisciplinary research initiatives, 57 major externally funded research projects, two federally funded graduate training programs, and a professional training institute.
In addition, the CSC works closely with the Penn State Psychological Clinic and supports several community-University partnerships across Pennsylvania, including Parents And Children Together in the Harrisburg area. The center also hosts an annual speaker series, and is home to the Families Interested in Research Studies database, which is provided as a resource to all University faculty.
“When I joined the department in 2007, the Child Study Center had a lot of the things that it has now, like the initiatives. When Karen stepped in, she had a mandate to step things up a bit,” Neiderhiser said. “She talked to faculty about what would be useful for them. One of them was grant support. Another was the measures database the CSC maintains. There are a few other things she did that were directly responsive to faculty’s stated needs that have been instrumental in faculty recruitment and retention ... I think the other lasting legacy would be the amount of work she has done with the Development office and the number of endowments that have been made to the center during her tenure. She really has been able to inspire people to support the work the Child Study Center is doing.”
Eiden said the CSC and Bierman’s leadership of it were among the driving factors that brought her to Penn State in 2019 after many years as a faculty member at the University at Buffalo, SUNY.
“All of the questions that a new faculty member would ask, I got very good answers, because Karen was so faculty forward and welcomed me with open arms,” Eiden said. “The center really has been very helpful for faculty recruitment and retention, and I’ve seen it play out in faculty hiring.”
Eiden and Neiderhiser’s goals for the CSC start with continuing its rock-solid stewardship — “just supporting what’s working really well,” Eiden said.
Of course, they have some ideas of their own, including bringing more visibility to the CSC and implementing several new initiatives, among them a Penn State chapter of the Connection Project (aka Hoos Connected), a University of Virginia-founded program that focuses on building connections and reducing loneliness and depression rates among college students.
“We also want to talk to the faculty and other people involved in the center to think about some areas where they would like to see some changes,” Neiderhiser said. “It’s important for us to work well with the CSC staff because they’re amazing and make it possible for the faculty to do their work much more easily than they would be able to do otherwise.”
Eiden said Laureen Teti, associate research professor of psychology and the center’s longtime associate director, will be integral to their success.
“Laureen provides the continuity and day-to-day management of the staff — she’s been the center’s backbone for a very long time, which allows us to focus on the big picture,” Eiden said. “Part of the impetus of doing this job together was the ability to talk things over and discuss things. Combining both of our heads together might yield results we might not be able to do individually. Obviously, as we move forward, there might be things that fall within one of our own specific levels of expertise, but that will unfold as we move forward.”
At the end of the day, the most important goal, Eiden and Neiderhiser said, is to ensure the CSC continues carrying out its laudable mission for many years to come.
“I’m extremely grateful to Karen for what she’s created — we hope to continue that good work,” Neiderhiser said. “I’m excited and honored to be selected, because it is an honor. And thankful that Rina is doing it together with me.”
“Ditto what Jenae said,” Eiden added.