Dr. Vern Bengston is a research professor of social work in the Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Robert W. Kleemeier Award from The Gerontological Society of America and the Ernest W. Burgess Distinguished Career Award from the National Council on Family Relations. He is the author of over 250 research papers and seventeen books, including Families and Faith: How Religion Is (and Isn’t) Passed Down Across Generations.