History of MFRI

The Military Family Research Institute is one of the leading organizations in the nation with the mission of conducting research about, with, and for military families. The organization was founded in 2000 through a cooperative agreement with the Office of Military Community and Family Policy in the Department of Defense. For the next five years, Purdue University served as the ‘research house’ for the OMCFP. By the end of that cooperative agreement, the conflict in Iraq had begun, creating strong competition for resources within the Department of Defense and the earmark in the federal budget was not renewed. 

The original mission of MFRI was to conduct research on the connection between quality of life for families and outcomes of interest to the military: job satisfaction, performance and retention. MFRI approached this task by working to develop valid, detailed models of the processes connecting quality of life and the outcomes of interest. A committed focus on processes remains a priority for MFRI because of the need for such research in the Department of Defense, where most existing research comprises cross-sectional surveys. 

In 2007, MFRI received new funding through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, allowing the organization to expand its mission to include the development and delivery of outreach activities for the military and civilian infrastructures supporting military families. Our expanded mission is guided by the belief that synergies are created when researchers and practitioners work in tandem with one another. The staff at MFRI place high value on linking discovery, learning, and engagement.