Allen Barton Ph.D.

Allen Barton, Ph.D., aka The Family Engineer, is an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Barton completed his Bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) and Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois before discovering the field of family science. He subsequently received a PhD in Human Development & Family Science at the University of Georgia (UGA) and completed postdoctoral research at UGA’s Center for Family Research.

A highly published scholar, Dr. Barton’s research focuses on identifying novel and effective ways to strengthen families and promote adult and child well-being. He has developed, disseminated, and/or evaluated various programs for couples and parents. Dr. Barton is the creator and founder of Five Verbs, which provides individuals with practical, research-based programming for building strong and supportive couple, parent-child, and family relationships.