Kathleen Dyer, PhD

Katie Dyer was born and raised near St. Louis, Missouri where she graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1989. After earning a bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies in 1993 from the University of Missouri-Columbia, she stayed on for graduate school in the same program. 

She earned a master's degree (1995) while studying the development of morality and identity in emerging adulthood under Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, She earned her PhD (2001) while studying under Dr. Mark Fine; her doctoral dissertation was about the cultural context of parent-infant cosleeping in Mexican American families. 

Dr. Dyer moved to California's Central Valley in 2000. From 2000 to 2004, she worked in medical education, teaching evidence-based medicine for the Family Medicine Residency program through the UCSF Fresno Medical Education program. She developed a tool for assessing evidence based medicine competency (the "Fresno Test of Evidence Based Medicine") that is still in widespread use worldwide. 

Even while working in medicine, Dr. Dyer also worked as a part-time lecturer in Child and Family Science at the California State University, Fresno. In 2004, she assumed a position on the tenure track in that program. She was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2010, and promoted again to Professor in 2018. She was chair of her department for two terms, from 2015 through 2023. 

Dr. Dyer is deeply committed to public higher education. Teaching has been her top priority during her career in the California State University system, the largest 4-year public university system in the U.S., and one that strives to overcome structural inequalities by serving all students. 

She has written textbooks that fill curricular gaps for students in Human Development and Family Science. Dr. Dyer's research agenda revolves around higher education -- including academic disciplinarity, pedagogy, and academic standards in the academy. Her service work has been extensive, including service in the Academic Senate, with the Council of Department Chairs, with outcomes assessment, and student ratings of instruction.