The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) has conferred its organization’s prestigious Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring to Alexis Walker, Ph.D., Co-director for the School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences and the Jo Anne L. Petersen Chair in Gerontology and Family Studies. The Berardo Award was established by the family of the late Felix Berardo who credited much of his success to the devoted guidance of his mentor, F. Ivan Nye.  It was the wish of Dr. Berardo’s family that NCFR establish an award to recognize excellence in mentoring.

Dr. Walker has served NCFR in many capacities. She served as NCFR President from 1994-1995.  In 1991, she served as conference program Vice President. She was recognized as an NCFR Fellow in 1998, one of NCFR’s most prestigious awards. She was editor of NCFR’s highly-regarded scholarly journal, Journal of Marriage and Family, for several years. Dr. Walker is one of the co-founders of NCFR’s Feminism and Family Studies Section.

Dr. Walker’s award nomination dossier is replete with praise from those she has mentored.

“I first met Alexis in the classroom where I was dazzled by her organization, her preparation, high expectation of students and her extensive knowledge of the field. … With guidance from Alexis, I learned a lot about myself as a student and researcher. Alexis pushed me to think outside my social location and to be a stronger critical thinker in my teaching, research and writing.  … I strive to be the professional, colleague and mentor that Alexis was for me every day. Her participation in my life during graduate school and today has been far reaching.” Jana Meinhold, Ph.D., CFLE, assistant professor, Portland State University

“Dr. Walker spent countless hours helping me learn to write professionally, especially in regard to APA format, and for this I am known in the Washington State University College of Nursing as the ‘APA Queen.’ … I credit Dr. Walker’s research mentoring for my continuing funded research about the needs of families of children with special healthcare needs … Her influence has stayed with me as I now mentor doctoral students and young faculty. I hope someday to make the kind of difference for a student or faculty that Dr. Walker made for me.” Linda L. Eddy, Ph.D., RN, CPNP, associate professor, Washington State University College of Nursing

“Alexis was a demanding professor, but so gentle in her teachings. … She allows you to explore, take your time in the ideas and setting up the correct method, but then puts just the right amount of heat on you to fire you back up. In this way, I feel like Alexis forged my spirit of hard work and helped me to celebrate the small achievements with an eye always on the big picture. Cheryl Peters, Ph.D., program evaluation specialist, Michigan State University Extension

"… students discover that Alexis Walker is not the kind of mentor they had perhaps previously encountered. … If she becomes your professional guide, what you get is a mentor who tells you the unvarnished truth, encourages you to explore ideas, challenges you at every turn to accomplish more than you ever thought was possible, and celebrates your small and large accomplishments. She will read your work and return it more promptly than you might wish, having, as she calls it, ‘bled all over’ papers, proposals, journal manuscripts and thesis and dissertation drafts. … Her advice, insight and assurances guided me across the miles through the toughest times.

“Alexis sends her mentees streaming off into the world to do good work, and they do just that. In this way, the generativity of her mentorship creates a clear micro-to-macro effect, spreading outward in ever growing circles of influence as her students eventually pass on their accumulated experience and wisdom to their own mentees, often helping to bring about structural change in their environments. Thus Alexis Walker has become an innovator, change agent and mentor for many.” Elizabeth Bayler Levaro, Ph.D., assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-Stout

“As dean, I am so inspired by the quality of our faculty and the powerful ripple effect they create by mentoring the next generation of faculty. I am proud of Alexis and congratulate her for being a mentor for all of us in all aspects of our lives.” Tammy Bray, dean, College of Public Health and Human Sciences

The National Council on Family Relations is the nation’s premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of families. NCFR has a membership of over 3600 family researchers, practitioners and educators.  For more information on the National Council on Family Relations or its scholarly publications, contact NCFR at 1-888-781-9331 or visit its website at www.ncfr.org .