Lynette M. Renner

Dr. Lynette M. Renner is a Professor and holds the Gamble-Skogmo Land Grant Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy at the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work. She serves as Director of the PhD Program, Director of Graduate Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Family Violence. Her expertise spans family violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), child maltreatment, mental health, and resilience strategies. Dr. Renner has led research funded by the National Institute of Justice, CDC, and others, focusing on cross-system interventions and healthcare responses to violence.

She earned her PhD in Social Welfare (with a quantitative methods minor) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, MSW from the University of Kentucky, and BSW/BS from the University of Mary. Her work emphasizes translational research, including evaluations of IPV interventions, civil legal aid impacts, and youth disclosures of maltreatment via social media.

Her research highlights intersections between violence, health, and policy. Key areas include IPV survivors’ economic outcomes, healthcare provider readiness to address violence, and family-based interventions. She teaches doctoral courses on theory development and research practica, reflecting her commitment to training future social work scholars.