The University of Texas at Austin

Cynthia Osborne joined The University of Texas at Austin in 2005 as an Assistant Professor at the LBJ School and as an affiliate of the UT Austin Population Research Center. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of social policy, poverty and inequality, family and child well-being, family demography, and school entry among disadvantaged children.

Prior to joining the LBJ School faculty, Osborne was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Research on Child Wellbeing at Princeton University, where she worked on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey of New Parents. She holds a Ph.D. in demography and public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, a master's in public policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a master of arts in education from Claremont Graduate University. Previously, Osborne was a middle school teacher in a low-income community in California.

Education

Ph.D. in demography and public affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, 2003; M.P.P., John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1999; M.A. in education, Claremont Graduate University, 1995; B.A. in economics and psychology, Claremont McKenna College, 1991

Current Positions

Steering committee member, Center for Women and Gender Studies; affiliate, UT Austin Population Research Center; consultant/evaluator, Texas Health and Human Service Commission, Raising Texas Comprehensive Children’s Initiative; research advisory group member, Healthy Marriage Initiative, Texas Health and Human Service Commission; member, Ph.D. Review Committee, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Previous Positions

Evaluator, Parenting and Paternity Awareness Curriculum for High School Students, Texas Office of the Attorney General; Postdoctoral research fellow, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University (2003-2005); teacher, Foothill Middle School California (1994-1996)

Co-author with Pamela Smoch, “Married and Cohabiting Parents’ Relationship Stability: A Focus on Race and Ethnicity,” Journal of Marriage and Family, 69 (2007); co-author with Sara Mclanahan, “Partnership Instability and Child Well-being,” Journal of Marriage and Family, 69 (2007); co-author with Jean Knab, “Young Children’s Health and Behavior Following Welfare Reform." Children and Youth Services Review, 29(6), (2007); co-author with Lawrence Berger, Marcia Carlson, Sharon Bostezck, “Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties,” Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University, (forthcoming)

Community Development
Demographic Analysis
Family and Child Welfare
Urban Policy
Welfare