Founding Director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and a clinical professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Served as the first director of the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies, now a part of WCW, from 1981 to 1984.
A practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst for over 40 years, Dr. Miller was the author of Toward a New Psychology of Women (Boston, Beacon Press, 1976), a book which has become a classic in its field and about which a Boston Globe review said: "This small book may do more to suggest the range and scope of female possibilities than anything since Women's Suffrage." The book has been translated into 20 languages and was reissued in a second edition in 1987. A newer book, The Healing Connection (Boston, Beacon Press, 1997) co-authored with Irene Stiver, Ph.D., continues and expands this work. Dr. Miller was also co-author of Women's Growth in Connection (Guildford Press, 1991) and editor of Psychoanalysis and Women (New York, Brunner-Mazel and Penguin Books, 1973) and of numerous papers in professional journals on the psychology of women, depression and studies of dreams. She has been a consultant, leader, and member of several women's groups.
Dr. Miller received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1948, her M.D. from Columbia University in 1952 and her certification in psychoanalysis from New York Medical College in 1959. She also hold honorary degrees of Doctor of Human Letters from Brandeis University (1987) and Doctor Honoris Causa from Regis College (1995). She received her psychiatry training at Bellevue Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York City and at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.
Dr. Miller was a member of numerous professional societies, including the American College Psychiatrists, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Orthopsychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.
Since 1981, Dr. Miller had been Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine. She was also on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Associate Psychiatrist at Beth Israel Hospital. Prior to these positions, she was a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. In 1972-73, Dr. Miller was a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics, and at the Tavistock Institute and Clinic in London.
Fern Marx was a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women, where she had been for the past 17 years. She was one of the core team and author of the AAUW’s (American Association of University Women) study How Schools Shortchange Girls. Marx conducted the first study of alumnae of Agnes Scott College’s Irene K. Woodruff Return to School program for non-traditional age students on the occasion of the program's 25th anniversary and recently completed the evaluation of a unique program in the greater Boston area, Women Involved in Community Development, which supports low-income women in completing their undergraduate education. Marx was also a co-principal investigator of Raising Confident and Competent Girls project, which works with middle school teachers and administrators, parents, and youth service providers to improve classroom and program climate and address issues of gender equity and adolescent development.
She was principal investigator of a six-year study of the Women Involved in Living and Learning program (WILL) at the University of Richmond. This is a unique program focusing on leadership development and creating a single sex experience at a coeducational university. She was principal investigator of the Jacksonville Afterschool Experiences project, a three and a half-year study of after-school programs serving elementary and middle school students in public schools and community agencies in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, she was the evaluator of several violence prevention programs for young adolescents: Girl's, Inc.'s Project BOLD and Wellesley's Girl's LEAP. Marx was also co-principal investigator of two National Science Foundation funded projects encouraging girls to consider careers in engineering and computers (Hear Our Voices and Women in Engineering). Over the years, her applied evaluation work included national and local studies of afterschool care programs, programs for pregnant and parenting teens, and programs designed to provide training for low-income women.
Fern Marx's WCW publications:
Marx, F., Erkut, S., Fields, J.P. & Clayton, J. B. (2000). Raising Confident and Competent Girls: How Middle Schools Can Support Girls.Facilitator’s Manual. CRW 26. Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (2000). Agnes Scott College Return to College Program: Report on the 1999 Alumnae Survey. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Erkut, S., Marx, F., Fields, J.P. & Sing, R. (1998) Raising Confident and Competent Girls: Implications of Diversity. Working Paper 289. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Erkut, S. & Marx, F. (1995) Raising Competent Girls: An Exploratory Study of Diversity in Girls' Views on Liking One's Self. Special Report (CRW 10) of the Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Gannett, E. & Marx, F. (1993) The Public School Involvement in School-Age Child Care Project. Final Report. School-Age Child Care Project Wellesley Centers for Women and National Association of Elementary School Principals. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (1994) Professional Development Survey Results. Final Report. NASACCA Professional Development Committee & School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F., & Seligson, M. (1991) Final Report on A Study of Hawaii After School (A+) Program. Prepared for the Hawaii Department of Education. School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F., & Seligson, M. (1991) Final Report on a Study of Publicly Funded School-Age Child Care Programs in the City of Chicago. Prepared for the Chicago Department of Human Services. School-Age Child Care Project, Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (1991) Learning Together: A Supplement to the National Directory of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Miller, B. & Marx, F. (1990) Afterschool Arrangements in Middle Childhood: A Review of the Literature. Report No. 58. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (1990) Learning Together: Proceedings of the National Conference of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs April, 1990. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (1990) School Age Child Care in America: Final Report of A National Provider Survey. Working Paper, No. 204. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F., (1989) After School Programs for Low-Income Young Adolescents: Overview and Program Profiles. Working Paper No.194. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Francis, J. & Marx, F. (1989) Learning Together: A National Directory of Teen Parenting and Child Care Programs. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F., Bailey, S. & Francis, J. (1988) Child Care for the Children of Adolescent Parents: Findings from a National Survey and Case Studies.Working Paper, No. 184. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marshall, N., Witte, A, Nichols, L., Marx, F., & Colten, M (1988) The Child Day Care Affordability Study: Technical Report. Working Paper, No. 181. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Marx, F. (1987) The Role of Day Care in Serving the Needs of School-Age Parents and Their Children: A Review of the Literature. Working Paper, No. 174. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley, MA.
Senior Research Scientist
Family, Sexuality, and Communication Research Initiative
Senior Scholar
Senior Research Scientist
Director, Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab
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