The Center for Research on Families (CRF) community was shocked and saddened to learn of Aline Sayer's passing, in March of this year 2026 (obituary here). Aline was the founding Methodology Director at CRF, and an accomplished methodologist at Penn State and ICPSR at University of Michigan. Through her leadership and masterful teaching, Aline mentored so many into a deeper understanding of statistical modeling, and set many of her students on the course toward methodological careers.
Holly Laws, Senior Lecturer, Director of Methodology (CRF):
I am fortunate to have been Aline’s doctoral mentee at UMass Amherst; she set my own career on a methodological pathway, and I am grateful to serve as CRF’s Methodology Director since her retirement in 2017. Since hearing the sad news of her passing, I have been comforted by the memories that have come flooding in, of her interest in each person she worked with, her stellar teaching ability, and her presence as an active mind and fun person to share time with. Her unique combination of ability and generosity stand out most of all: she could wow us with her intellect, and at the same time leave us with a sense that we were working on something important and meaningful.
I take pride and comfort in how many aspects of Aline’s pedagogy continue in CRF. Posters of famous artwork that she donated line the sixth floor of Tobin Hall, and I think of her every day. Our methodology program is built from her core teaching tenets of getting to the heart of the design through curiosity and warmth and prioritizing conceptual clarity and collaborative understanding of a problem and methodological solution. As I write this I know that many of our CRF community have fond memories of working with Aline, and I hope we can all remember her strength and joyful character among our feelings of sadness at her passing.
From Karen Lyons, Professor at Boston College and the Elizabeth Power Keohane Faculty Fellow:
I met Aline Sayer as a first year PhD student in HDFS at PennState. She taught us multilevel modeling. I loved the way she blended the conceptual and methodological concepts of change over time. She made the material so accessible and interesting and it was by far my favorite class. She was working with a student called Mary Klute [Maguire] at the time who was working on a primer for how to treat the dyad as the unit of analysis (something I was interested in doing within caregiving research). Aline introduced me to the papers by Barnett and Raudenbush as a model for how I could examine incongruence in my dissertation. Throughout my early career, we continued to collaborate on several publications describing ways to analyze longitudinal dyadic models and also publishing the results of my studies. Aline was always willing to brainstorm new ideas with me. She was always so supportive and encouraging. We had a lot of fun figuring out the methodological answers to some of those early questions and every time we talked on the phone she would tell me about some really brilliant new way of thinking about dyadic data that we should try out. She pretty much taught me everything I know about dyadic methods. As I wrote in the book and acknowledge in many of my talks, I simply would not be a dyadic researcher today without her! But, even more than that, she was an incredibly kind and patient person, who made me feel seen and never gave up on me. She always asked about me and my family. She was funny and had great perspective on life. I always felt good after getting off the phone with her. I admired her so very much. I owe her so very much. She was such a good mentor and collaborator and I try hard to be like her with my own students. She has had enormous impact on so many of us, even if it was simply to believe in us, provide helpful feedback, or help us gain perspective on the things that really matter in life. I miss her.
From Joe Gaugler, PhD, Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in LTC & Aging; Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota:
Dr. Sayer was a truly inspirational instructor. She was my 1st methods instructor in the PhD program in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State, and she not only helped me grasp material that, at the time, was new and challenging, but in many ways served as a pedagogical template that I have tried to follow when working with my own students. While I could never replicate her teaching skill, I will always remember her classes and what she taught me well beyond the course syllabus.
From Stephanie Lanza, former Methodology Graduate Student Consultant:
Of course, as a female methodologist Aline served as a wonderful role model to me and many other women in the field. But when I think of Aline, my mind always goes to her joyful personality. There were so many fun stories! Here's one I think of often:
Many many years ago, I attended my first meeting of the Society for Prevention Research - along with a large group of folks from Penn State. The meeting was in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. One night, Aline joined a group of us, all graduate students at that time, to find our way to a soft shell crab dinner on the other side of the harbor. We didn't know Aline too well at that point, but she was just a delight to spend the evening with! We laughed and laughed that night. When we finally made our way back to the hotel, Aline stopped in her tracks because she would not ride in the glass elevators... that went up many stories! She finally fessed up and invited us to follow her - and trust her. A few of us were intrigued - and next thing we knew we were walking around behind the scenes in the hotel, weaving our way through the laundry rooms. We finally found our way to a massive service elevator that we snuck on to get to our hotel rooms. I can't tell you how much we all laughed that special night!
I will never forget her spirit and kindness.
From John B. Willett, Professor of Education, Emeritus Harvard:
I am immensely saddened to learn of Aline’s passing, as she was a firm friend, a skilled scholar, a thoughtful teacher, a perceptive researcher, and – most of all -- a warm and caring human being. I first met her a good many years ago, when she joined our doctoral program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education where she excelled as a student in our sequence of quantitative-methods courses. Subsequently, as her doctoral career blossomed, I had the privilege of working closely with Aline to design and implement her doctoral research and support the writing of her excellent thesis. As a result, over time, our relationship broadened to become that of colleagues. For instance, after completing her own coursework in quantitative methods, Aline joined my teaching team and made enthusiastic original contributions to the content and pedagogy of the sequence itself, paying her skills and energy forward to subsequent generations of her peers. Then, as her research skills and experience grew further, she and I became professional collaborators and co-authors. In one vivid memory, for instance, I recall the productive conversations about research design and longitudinal data-analysis that we enjoyed as we ferried each other occasionally by car from our respective homes in Amherst, in Western Massachusetts, to the Harvard Campus in the eastern part of the State. Once Aline had become a professor in her own right, she went on to share her deep skills and insights – in her same selfless manner -- with subsequent generations of students at UMass/Amherst and elsewhere, for the rest of her career. She made unique and thoughtful scholarly contributions, across the broad realm of education and the social sciences. Finally, I would be amiss if I failed to close my tribute to Aline's memory without celebrating the happy personal bonds that grew between the members of our two families over the many years that we spent as neighbors and friends in Massachusetts. Thank you, Aline, you are sorely missed.
From Katie Newkirk, Director of Evidence-Based Practices at Children's Health and Development Institute:
Aline was such a great teacher and inspired me to focus heavily on statistics during grad school. She had a talent for conveying complex concepts in easy to understand ways. She mentored me a lot during grad school and I owe her much credit for my career pathway that has relied heavily on stats skills I learned from her in class, working on research together, and as her teaching assistant for three years. She was incredibly supportive of me personally and in my career development by being so generous with her time and knowledge.
From Alice Coyne, Assistant Professor American University:
It’s so challenging to find the words to summarize the profound impact that Aline had on me and my career. From the very beginning of graduate school, Aline was a wonderful mentor to me. Without her, I would never have even considered building a specialty in statistics and consulting. She was the rare type of person who used her brilliance to make everyone around her feel smart and capable. Perhaps the simplest way to summarize her impact on me is this–when I think of a great statistics/methods professor, I think of Aline.
From Yesel Yoon, Psychologist and Facilitator:
Dr. Aline Sayer was an incredible teacher. She took what could be considered a complicated and somewhat intimidating topic of advanced research methodology and taught it in such a way that students could grasp the material and skills. I took extra statistical analysis classes just so I could continue learning directly from Aline. I visited her during her office hours for help, and she was always warm, funny, and would take an interest in my general well being too. It meant so much. I am sad that she is no longer with us. It is clear she left such a lasting impression on the academic community, and I can say she is missed.
From Paula Pietromonaco, Emeritus Faculty UMass Amherst:
Aline was an extraordinary colleague, teacher, and mentor. Whether she was teaching a class on multilevel modeling or meeting one-on-one with our research team, her guidance, insight, and expertise made our work much better.
She had a remarkable gift for explaining complex ideas with clarity and patience, making even the most challenging concepts accessible. No matter how complicated our data or analytical questions became, she was always willing to sit down with us, work through the problem, and help us find a path forward.
What I will remember most, however, was the warmth, energy, and enthusiasm she brought to every interaction. She helped everyone feel supported, valued, and capable. Aline was truly one of a kind, and her impact extended far beyond her scholarship and teaching. She made the world a better place, and she will be deeply missed.
From Lisa Fiorenzo, Former CRF Methodology Consultant:
I had the incredible fortune of working under Aline as a Methodology Consultant for a number of years. Not only was she brilliant and an outstanding teacher, she was also wickedly funny! Once the difficult methodological work was complete (guided by her sought-after expertise), she would share stories and crack jokes, which was a great reminder to step back, find perspective, and not take everything so seriously. Her demeanor--total lack of condescension, creating a relaxed environment to meet students and faculty where they were--shaped the culture of Methodology Consulting, and I try to bring this attitude to my industry work in research and development every day. She will be dearly missed.
From J-P Laurenceau, Unidel A. Gilchrist Sparks III Chair in the Social Sciences & Professor University of Delaware:
I first met Aline when I was a doctoral student at Penn State when she was a faculty member there in HDFS. She always made time for me even though I was not one of her own student mentees and I learned a lot from her about HLM and about how to be a parent while trying to hold down a faculty job in academia. Although I was not in close contact with her since the Covid-19 pandemic, I co-taught a CRF-sponsored 5-day summer workshop at UMass with another colleague and friend of hers (Niall Bolger) on Intensive Longitudinal Methods. I will always look fondly upon those summers in Amherst in large part because of how great it was to work with her each time. We also regularly had dinner with her and Gus each of those summers and hear about their travels and how their kids we doing. I will miss her.
From Sally Powers, former Center for Research on Families Director and Emeritus Faculty UMass Amherst:
Aline was a gift in my life. I first knew her as an extraordinary colleague. She came to UMass, joining the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department in order to bring the latest innovations in research methodology to faculty and students. At the same time, she became a pillar of the leadership of the Center for Research on Families (CRF). She came to CRF when its mission was being reenvisioned, and her ideas, expertise, and energy were a fundamental force creating a Center that served scholars across campus, nationally, and internationally. CRF would not have become the success it is without the gift of Aline. She was a “teacher extraordinaire.” Teaching faculty and graduate students a challenging subject like methodology takes boatloads of expertise, but as importantly, Aline had the interpersonal skill and temperament to gently lead her colleagues and students to new knowledge. I certainly experienced her patience and skill time and time again as she re-explained a statistical method to me until she saw that I understood. I came to love Aline as a friend—when I walked into her office to get her advice, she seemed to always look up from whatever she was engrossed in with a generous, full smile that sparkled in her eyes and I always knew that I was going to enjoy being in her presence. And what a joy it was to discover over the years, Aline’s many other talents and interests. I loved it when she shared her deep knowledge of art and art history! Again, that radiant smile appeared whenever she talked of her many trips to visit another art museum. I will always be grateful that Aline shared part of her life with me as colleague and valued friend.
From Mark Manning, Assistant Professor Oakland University:
Aline and Gus had me over for dinner after I graduated, a week or so before I left for my postdoc. It was amazing food, amazing company (Ronnie was able to make it), and such a wonderful memory with which to say goodbye to my graduate career.
Then Aline was in Michigan and invited me to dinner with some of the ICPSR leadership. I did not realize it was a pseudo-interview. After that, I got an offer to teach a methods course at their summer session. I still do that to this day, and it is my favorite month of the year.
Later, Aline was back in Michigan and had dinner with me, Eileen, and infant Riley. We walked a bit and chatted, and I was so honored when she said she had been keeping track of my career to see what I was up to.
Thinking on it, Aline was responsible for so many of our careers — we, her students and mentees. But she always made each person feel like they mattered so much. And that is invaluable.
I celebrate her life with incredible love and gratitude for how much she impacted mine.
