Warren Eaton portrait photo

Retired child development professor with interests in family, American expat tax issues, baby milestones, investing, conversation, walking, newspapers, spectator sports, cappuccinos, yoga, New Zealand, and the beauty and tragedy of the human condition.

Biography

Beginnings

Born in a small Western American town in the late 1940's, I enjoyed a happy 1950's childhood and relatively calm '60's adolescence.

At 17 I happened to read a series of magazine articles about prominent American universities, a chance event that broadened my horizons.I went to Stanford University, where I encountered culture shock, the impostor syndrome, and a love of university life. I had found my niche.It was on to the University of Illinois for graduate school and eventually to my only job, decades of teaching and researching child development at the University of Manitoba in Canada.


Family

I married and was blessed with two children. Years passed. After a divorce and a second marriage I became an older father to two more children.Many years of parenting have accumulated, and now I see my family and children as my greatest accomplishments. As a bonus I now have a grandson who makes me laugh a lot.Parenting has been incredibly rewarding, has taught me many life lessons and was indispensable to my academic career in developmental psychology.


Current

Retirement gave me less money but more time. I struggled to find a new identity for awhile and then chose to work on various projects.Meanwhile I enjoy helping my kids, chatting with others, and in being part of a community. I savor simple things like the warmth of the winter sun, pets, good coffee, and watching a toddler climb stairs.The writer Thoreau said that the young person gathers supplies to build a bridge to the moon. When older, they use what they collected to build a shed.The younger me wanted to create new knowledge. Now, the older me wants to help others by sharing what I know. Current enthusiams are described in Projects.

Career

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ph.D., 1977, Developmental Psychology
M.A., 1973, Personality Psychology
Stanford University
B.A., 1971, Psychology (with distinction)
Wyoming public schools, 1955-1967Mrs. Beede's Kindergarten, 1954


Positions

University of Manitoba (Canada), PsychologySenior Scholar, 2015-present.
Professor, 1988-2014.
Associate Head (Undergraduate), 2002.
Associate Head (Graduate), 1988-1989, 1996.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, 1981-1988.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, 1976-1981.
University of Otago (New Zealand), Psychology
Visiting Professor, 2004-2005.
Arizona State University (USA), Psychology
Visiting Associate Professor, 1982-1983.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA), Psychology
National Institute of Child Health and Development Trainee, 1974-1976.


Skills

Current
American expat hassles; infant developmental milestones; writing for the general public; local search; free/cheap web tools
Fading
Individual differences; SAS statistical software, survey construction; academic writing; graphical presentation; Wordpress


CV

Academic resumes are called curriculum vitae or cv's. Here's a link to my cv. It has details about my university teaching and research publications.

Projects

Background

For my university research I needed lots of parents to answer questions about their babies. That cost money I didn't have. Instead I tried web advertising for data collection, which was very new then. To my surprise, it worked! It was exciting to have parents from around the world share their observations.I had stumbled on the use of web tools for research problems. It was interesting and fun, and I learned a lot about web-based research. As a result I have an odd mix of academic expertise and writing on the web for the general public. I'm now using that combination of skills for several projects described below.Having grown up around my family's small business, I unconsiously absorbed some entrepreneurial ambitions. Now, many years later, I'm indulging them by creating informational materials that might be helpful for others.


Baby Milestones

Babies in first 18 months of life display dozens of little-known and overlooked milestones. Based on my university research I've developed observation tools that parents can use to recognize these subtle achievements. Their recogntion generally encourage and reassure anxious parents.


Expat Newsletter

American citizens who reside outside the US, like me, have complicated tax lives. Even simple investments, like owning non-US mutual funds, require complex IRS tax forms. I write about these issues in my free Substack newsletter.


An Expat's Guide to FBARs

Americans expats face unique tax and financial challenges because of US tax laws. Even though they may have no US income, they must file annual US tax returns in addition to paying taxes where they live. Expats have to provide details about all their financial accounts annually on a form know as the FBAR. I share my painfully learned lessons about FBAR issues in a guide for others.

Contact

To contact me, complete and submit the form below.