Bob Emery: A Gentleman and a Scholar

• Author: Marsha Kline Pruett,Barbara A. Babb,Matthew G. Kiernan
• Date: 01 January 2019
• Published date: 01 January 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12391

PARTING WORDS: A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT EMERY

BOB EMERY: A GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR

Bob Emery is a gentleman and a scholar. We know we speak for the worldwide Family Court

Review (FCR) readership as we thank Bob for his extraordinary contributions and service to the

journal. We bid him adieu in this, his last issue as FCR Social Science Editor.

Bob has served FCR with distinction since the publication of his first issue as Social Science

Editor in January 2011. From that time until the publication of this January 2019 issue, Bob has

overseen 33 issues of FCR, including 23 Special Issues. The breadth of those Special Issue topics

provides a sense of the depth and scope of Bob’s knowledge about all things family and child

related, inclu ding the following: P erspectives on Sexual O rientation and G ender Identity i n Fam-

ily Law; Recent Advances in Understanding Conflict Development; Shared-Time Parenting After

Separation; Mental Illness in the Family; Parenting Time and Co-Parenting for Unmarried Par-

ents; Reigniting the Relocation Debate;AFCCThinkTankonSharedParenting—Closing the

Gap: Research, Policy, Practice, and Shared Parenting; Papers from the 6

th

World Congress on

Family Law and Children’s Rights: Building Bridges—From Principle to Reality; Global

Family Law; Family Relationship Centres; Family Court Review’s Fiftieth Anniversary; A ttach-

ment: Overreaching Theory and Data; Making a Better World for the Children of Incarcerated

Parents; and Att achment Theor y, Separation, and Divorce: Forg ing Coherent Und erstandings fo r

Family Law.

Bob’s generosity of spirit and dedication to this journal are evident in his important role dur-

ing the editorial transition from Andy Schepard to interim editors Herbie DiFonzo and Ruth

Stern and thereafter to the current editorial staff. Bob has supported the outgoing editor, the

interim editors, and the present editors during every step of these passages—explaining pro-

cesses and procedures, offering advice and support, and ensuring that the FCR train remains on

its track. Thanks to Bob’s calm demeanor, we have safely maneuvered the often difficult courses

encountered in publishing a quarterly journal. Throughout it all, Bob has contributed both his

wisdom and his talents without fanfare and always in a most pleasant, collegial, and collabora-

tive manner. We know the sometimes challenging circumstances Bob has confronted while sup-

porting these transitions, yet he has never wavered in his support for FCR andfor us.Infact,

due in a significant measure to Bob’s efforts, FCR now ranks as one of the top legal journals in

the world.

Former FCR Editor in Chief Andy Schepard provided highlights of Bob’s academic life at the

June FCR Editorial Board meeting in Washington, DC. Andy recounted that Bob recently

received the Univers ity of Virginia’s (UVA) Cavaliers’Distinguished Teaching Professorship, an

honor recognizing his eminent scholarship and his enduring teaching excellence. Anyone who

enjoyed and benefited from one of Bob’s riveting presen tations experie nced firsthand how well

deserved was this honor. Bob taught more than 15,000 undergraduate students over the years in

his abnormal psychology class, humanizing psychological problems while teaching skills needed

for objectivity. According to Andy, Bob also served as a lynchpin of a highly successful graduate

program at UVA.

Bob responded to the kind words of the Editorial Board members by remarking, “I’m not dead

yet! I don’t like the word retirement, so you will still have Bob Emery to kick around in the future.”

Indeed, we are delighted that Bob intends to remain on the Editorial Board as an ex-officio mem-

ber. While we certainly do not intend to “kick around”our wonderful colleague, we hope to keep

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 57 No. 1, January 2019 8–9

© 2019 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts