Laura Scaramella, Ph.D.

Beginning June 1, 2019, Dr. Laura V. Scaramella has been Director of the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.  An alumna of Tucson’s Salpointe Catholic High School and our own College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, Laura has a background in family studies and child development as well as in psychology.  She served as a post-doctoral fellow at both Vanderbilt University and Iowa State University, and in 1998 she was appointed as an associate research scientist for Iowa State’s Center for Family Research and Rural Mental Health.  Laura began her academic career two years later when she joined the faculty of the University of New Orleans in the Department of Psychology.  She became department chair in 2015 and leads the Family in Transition Research Lab.

Laura comes to us with a wealth of experience in adaptive leadership in some of the most challenging academic circumstances imaginable.  She understands extremely well the Norton School’s heritage.  She shares a very strong motivation to continue our research strengths in Family Studies and Human Development and to develop an internationally recognized research program in Consumer Sciences areas of the future.  Laura is highly motivated to ensure more students benefit from the Norton School’s valuable degrees that have high employability.