Courses in "child management" and "family living" first appeared in the Department of Home Economics in the early 1920s. When a University-based nursery school was established in 1926 (the first in the state) to provide hands-on experience for students, the foundation was in place for a department dedicated to children, families, and their relationships. In 1946, the Department of Family Life was established. Its name changed to Child Development and Family Life in 1956, and then to Child Development and Family Studies in 1976.

The department moved to its own building in 1959 and transferred into the new School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education in 1962. The department returned to the School of Home Economics in 1974. Expansion within the department required a number of its programs to be located throughout campus in the 1980s. Fowler House was renovated in 1994 to accommodate some CDFS programs, including the Purdue Child Care Program (currently Ben & Maxine Miller Child Learning Center), opened in 1984 to help meet the needs of working and single parents. In 1993, the Center for Families was established within the department to help improve the quality of life for families. Seven years later, the Military Family Research Institute was created to address quality of life issues for military families.

Traces of CDFS: A Partial History of the Department of Child Development and Family Studies 1946-1986 by Richard K. Kerckhoff (Adobe Acrobat Reader Required)

CDFS Milestones

• 1926: Purdue Nursery School established
• 1946: Department of Family Life established
• 1956: Name changed to Department of Child Development and Family Life
• 1959: Department moves to new Child Development and Family Life Building
• 1960: First Ph.D. awarded
• 1964: Purdue's Marriage Counseling Center moves to the department, eventually leading to establishment of Marriage and Family Therapy Program
• 1976: Name changes to Department of Child Development and Family Studies
• 1980: Family Research Institute established
• 1984: Purdue Child Care Program opens
• 1985: Programs expanded to facilities on Russell Street
• 1993: Center for Families established
• 1994: $3 million renovation of Fowler House completed for CDFS programs
• 2000: Military Family Research Institute established
• 2001: Record set in external grant fund awards (nearly $7 million)
• 2006: Ben & Maxine Miller Child Learning Center (formerly Purdue Child Care Program)