Dr. Jay A. Mancini

Dr. Jay A. Mancini died on October 10, 2024 at home in the loving care of Deborah (his wife) and Nathan, David and Suzanne (his children). Jay died early at 75 years of age due to cancer but led a full life.

Jay was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. Throughout his life, Jay’s attachment to the Philadelphia area and Philadelphia sports teams (especially the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies) was a constant. Jay had fond memories of growing up and spending time with the Mancini family in the Marcus Hook area and the family traditions of his Italian heritage (such as Sunday suppers at his grandmother’s house). Jay traveled to Italy a number of times and on one such trip Jay, along with his wife and children, visited the village where the Mancini family came from. Late in life he pursued and obtained citizenship to Italy and an Italian passport. Jay was proud to have dual citizenship with Italy.

As a person, Jay was reflective of who his parents, Jay and Vetra Mancini, were. Both his parents were well liked and kind to others, traits that Jay exhibited as well. Jay’s father served in World War II and earned a bronze star and was a barber when Jay was a child. Jay’s mother was active in the community in various ways and served as longtime administrative assistant at Widener University.

Dr. Mancini obtained his master’s degree at Kansas State University and a PhD at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. At the time of his death Dr. Mancini was Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and Adjunct Professor of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia (UGA). Dr. Mancini was on the faculty of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) for 32 years (from 1977 to 2009) retiring as Professor Emeritus. During his tenure at Virginia Tech, Dr. Mancini served as Department Head of Human Development and Family Science (formerly Department of Family and Child Development) from 1989-1996 and was Senior Research Fellow at Virginia Tech’s Institute for Society, Culture and Environment. After Virginia Tech, Dr. Mancini served as Department Head of Human Development and Family Science and Haltiwanger Distinguished Professor at University of Georgia for 7 years and then continued his contributions to the department as Adjunct Professor. While Department Head, Dr. Mancini established and served as the Director of the Family and Community Resilience Laboratory (2009-2016) which conducted a number of Department of Defense funded military youth and families research projects focused on the intersections of vulnerability and resilience. Two projects, in particular, created large data sets on adolescents and parents and adolescents that have been used by graduate students and faculty at UGA and other universities and resulted in almost 50 publications to date and counting. In addition, two former post doctoral fellows of the lab mentored by Dr. Mancini are now on faculty at universities and continuing funded research on military families. In 2013, Dr. Mancini was the Ambiguous Loss Visiting Scholar at the University of Minnesota.

During his professional career as a family scientist, Dr. Mancini’s work focused on a number of issues that included family gerontology, family leisure time use, building community capacity, sustainability of community-based programs, resilience and vulnerabilities of families, military youth and families, military family support systems, and psychological well-being of youth and families. Dr. Mancini’s theoretical and research work is published in a wide array of periodicals that include Family Process, Family Relations, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Family Theory and Review, Family Science Review, European Journal of Homelessness, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Military Medicine, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, American Journal of Community Psychology to name just a few. Dr. Mancini’s program development and evaluation research were funded by and conducted for the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U. S. Department of Defense, Office of Family Assistance under U.S. Administration for Children and Families, U. S. Department of the Army, U.S. Department of the Air Force, and National Institute on Aging (NIH), and totaled more than $22M. From 1995-2010, Dr. Mancini was significantly involved in the Army Youth Development Project under USDA CYFAR initiative and U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center. Dr. Mancini was a consultant to a number of organizations including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, America’s Promise Alliance, Caliber Associates, Department of Defense, and National Park Service in which he provided measurement and program development guidance, training, and research and program evaluation.

Dr. Mancini received a number of awards and honors, most recently receiving in September 2024 the 2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence from the School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Mancini also received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the 2002 Outstanding Alumnus Award from the School of Human Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In addition, Dr. Mancini received the 2008 Alumni Distinguished Research Award and 2021 Career Achievement Award, both from the College of Health and Human Sciences, Kansas State University. In 2014, Dr. Mancini was presented the Spirit of Military Families Coin by Defense Canada, Military Family Services/Services Aux Des Militaires. In 2018, Dr. Mancini received (with others) the Excellence in Research on Military and Veteran Families Award from the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Mancini was a member of a number of professional organizations and most notably was a longstanding member and Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). Dr. Mancini was actively involved and prominent figure in NCFR having served as a member since 1973 and making significant contributions that included serving on the Board of Directors, Editorial boards, various task forces and committees, editor of journals, and in other key roles. Dr. Mancini has written chapters in books such as Handbook of Family Theories: A Content-based Approach and Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Key books include Family Stress Management: A Contextual Approach, written by Dr. Mancini with Dr. Pauline Boss and Dr. Chalandra Bryant and Pathways of Human Development: Explorations of Change, edited by Dr. Mancini with Dr. Karen Roberto. In a 2012 issue of Family Science Review, Dr. Mancini reflected on and wrote about his career as a family scientist.

Dr. Mancini was proud to have had at least 42 students in faculty positions. Dr. Mancini was a mentor to former students, faculty and colleagues. In sum, in these and other ways, Dr. Mancini has left a legacy of scholarship, mentorship, and leadership in the family science field.

Jay will be remembered for his generous nature, helping others (whether it be a family member, friend, colleague, student, or others) who needed help or he just wanted someone to have something such as a gift from travels or a sweet from the grocery store. His friendly banter, wit and sense of humor, and sense of fun made people feel good and put a smile on their face. It is also one of the reasons individuals enjoyed working and collaborating with him. Children and dogs instantly bonded to Jay. In his professional collaborations and relationships, Jay shared his knowledge from scholarly literature, imparted his wisdom, mentored students and faculty, provided financial support to graduate students and young faculty for professional development and travel, and assisted in making important connections to others. Similarly in his personal relationships, Jay talked about content from various readings (whether from newspapers or books that he read) and provided sage advice. Jay regarded relationships as important. Jay maintained relationships and formed close connections with many that as a result Jay was viewed as an academic father or father figure whereas for others, he was a lifelong friend. Many individuals have stated that Jay has positively impacted their career and personal life. Jay enjoyed the fun of poker nights with the men of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia, book club with two friends, and many years of breakfasts and lunches with friends and colleagues. While there were memorable travels and locations related to conferences and military and consulting projects (such as traveling in Germany and first trip outside of the U.S. being to Japan and Asia), Jay most loved annual trips to England and St. Martin with Deborah (his wife), enjoyed the multiple trips to Italy, Ireland and Switzerland with Deborah, and took great joy in family trips with Deborah and Nathan, David and Suzanne (his children) to Miami, Hawaii, Mexico, Amsterdam, Ireland, England, and Italy. Jay oftentimes would want others to have the same great travel experiences so would make recommendations from his own personal travels when Jay heard someone was visiting a place that he had visited. The most meaningful trips were those that enabled Jay to spend time with family, friends and colleagues in the U.S. (especially North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland) and other countries (particularly England, Italy, and Canada). In 2021, Jay took up painting and had fun using different techniques with oil paint and painting different types of images. Friends have their favorite painting or a Christmas tree from Jay’s Christmas tree series.

Jay was a loving husband and devoted father. Jay is survived by his wife, Deborah, and children, Nathan, David and Suzanne. Jay is also survived by other family members to include: Jennifer Levin-Tavares (sister-in-law), Karen Christy (cousin), Michele McGinniss (cousin), Vito (and Lois) Jacono (cousin), Vincenzo (and Marlene) Jacono (cousin). Jay maintained close relationships with high school friends, colleagues, former students, friends, and others and was particularly touched by the support from many especially in the last two years of dealing with the cancer. Other survivors include: Gary and Donna Bowen, Jim and Rhona Martin, Shannon Jarrott and Gus Teller, Rosemary Blieszner and Steve Gerus, Karen Roberto and Steve Sheetz, Ruth Anne and Rick Anderson, Deepu George, Bradford Wiles, Catherine O’Neal, Kathy Von Appen, Assaf and Pamela Oshri, April Few-Demo and David Demo, Mallory Lucier-Greer, Jerry Gale, Linton and Ingrid Gilbert, Steve and Anne Marcotte, Soyoung Lee and Sean and Hana Marie Heffron, Seonhwa Lee, Jim and Keiko Ford, Bolivar and Maura Ona; Hugh, Lorraine, Victoria and Sophie Milroy (Siddington, England); Maurizio and Alessandra Ambrosini (Milano, Italy), Steve Kogan, Laura Arnold, Neila Grimsley, Lydia Marek, and Amos Zeichner. Tu sei stato amato da molti, amore mio.

Jay believed in giving and donated to organizations that he regarded as important and/or had personal ties. To honor Jay, please give to your local food bank or the Jay A. Mancini Graduate Award in Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Health and Human Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (a fund that supports the professional development and research of graduate students to include travel costs to attend conferences). (Please see the following link for the Jay A. Mancini Graduate Award: https://www.alumni.uncg.edu/s/1659/lightning19/form.aspx?sid=1659&gid=2&pgid=480&cid=1261&appealcode=AP%2fWEB&SOLORG=AP&SOLSOURCE=WEB&bledit=1&dids=1365)

For those in the family science discipline, other ways you can honor Jay are to: 1) read and hear notable scholars to learn new theories and ideas, just as Jay was influenced by hearing Victor Frankl early in his career, 2) collaborate with others, and 3) mentor and support graduate students and faculty, just as Jay benefited from the kindness and encouragement of professors and established scholars and in turn Jay did for students and faculty with whom he encountered.

A celebration of life event is being held on Sunday, August 17, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.

Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.