Walter R. Schumm (born January 9, 1951) is a professor in the Department of Family Studies and Human Services at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. He is also the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

'' Marriage & Family Review''. Much of Schumm's research purports to find negative effects of same-sex parenting, although his work has been criticized for its methodology. In 2010, he gave "expert evidence" in a Florida court against a gay man who challenged the state's ban on LGBT adoption.

Education

Schumm received his B.S. in physics from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

in 1972, his M.S. in Family and Child Development from Kansas State University in 1976, and his Ph.D. in Family Studies from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in 1979.

Career

For 30 years (1972-2002), Schumm served as a colonel in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

and

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

. He joined the faculty of Kansas State University in 1979.

Research

Schumm is known for his research on the alleged adverse effects of

LGBT parenting LGBT parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people raising one or more children as parents or foster care parents. This includes: children raised by same-sex couples (same-sex parenting), children raised by single LGBT ...

, and the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

called on him to give expert testimony in support of their same-sex marriage ban when it was challenged in court in 2008. For example, in 2010, he published a study in the ''

Journal of Biosocial Science The ''Journal of Biosocial Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the intersection of biology and sociology. It was the continuation of ''The Eugenics Review'', published by the Galton Institute from 1909 till 1968. It ...

'' claiming that homosexual parents are more likely than non-homosexual parents to have homosexual children, although the effect was not significant for males. In November 2012, he wrote a commentary in defense of the methodology of

Mark Regnerus Mark Daniel Regnerus (born December 31, 1970) is a sociologist and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. His main fields of interest are sexual behavior, relationship dynamics, and religion. Education Regnerus graduated from McBain Rura ...

New Family Structures Study The New Family Structures Study (abbreviated NFSS) is a sociological study of LGBT parenting conducted by sociologist Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin. The study surveyed over 15,000 Americans of ages 18 to 39. The first research a ...

(NFSS), which was originally published earlier that year and which claimed that children of same-sex parents were less likely to succeed later in life. Writing in the same journal (''

Social Science Research ''Social Science Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of sociology. It was established in 1972 by Academic Press and is currently published by Elsevier, which acquired Academic Press in 2000. The editor-in-chi ...

'') that originally published the NFSS, Schumm claimed that "the methodological decisions egnerusmade in the design and implementation of the New Family Structures Survey were not uncommon among social scientists, including many progressive, gay and lesbian scholars." Other academics subsequently criticized Schumm because he had served as a paid consultant to the NFSS early in its development. In 2018, Schumm was given the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

, a biography publishing company. Schumm was previously on the editorial board of the ''Empirical Journal of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior''. He has written the

It Gets Better Project It Gets Better is an Internet-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth around the globe. It was founded in the United States by gay activist, author, m ...

promotes "deviant sex" and that lesbian relationships are unstable. The ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicati ...

'' has described Schumm's views as "anti-gay".

Personal life

Schumm is married and has seven children. Among his children is Jonathan Schumm, a former member of the Topeka City Council who resigned in April 2016 when he was facing torture and child abuse charges.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schumm, Walter R. 1951 births Living people Kansas State University faculty College of William & Mary alumni Kansas State University alumni Purdue University College of Engineering alumni