NCFR Recognizes Anna Olsavsky for Student Excellence, Potential in Family Science

 

Anna Olsavsky

The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is proud to recognize Anna L. Olsavsky, Ph.D., as the 2020 recipient of the NCFR Student Award, which is given to an NCFR graduate student member who has demonstrated excellence as a student and shows great potential for contributing to Family Science.

Dr. Olsavsky is a postdoctoral researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She graduated in 2020 with NCFR Student Honors, earning her doctorate in Human Development and Family Science at Ohio State University, where she also earned her Master of Science. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan University (CMU) and served as the president of the university’s NCFR student affiliate.

Dr. Olsavsky began her impressive career in family research as an undergrad at CMU as a coauthor on research and presented her results at conferences including at NCFR and the Society for Research in Child Development. Since that time, she has only continued to impress her professors and fellow colleagues and as so far published six peer reviewed articles (four as the first author) in scholarly journals and two book chapters (one as first author).

Dr. Olsavsky has earned admiration on the work of her dissertation which focuses on a newer assessment of attachment that applies it to interpersonal relationships from a Family Science perspective. Her innovative approach which includes fathers, along with mothers and other potential caregivers, will have far reaching implications for family researchers and practitioners.

In his letter of recommendation, Dr. Theodore Waters writes that Dr. Olsavsky’s work “signals the emergence of a highly productive and efficient scholar.” He goes on to write that the approach of her dissertation “has the potential to elevate attachment research and Family Science to another level and should, in my mind, become the new standard in the field.”

Dr. Olsavsky was recognized for her achievement at a special Awards Ceremony during the 2020 NCFR Annual Conference on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020.

 

The National Council on Family Relations is the premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of families. NCFR has a membership of nearly 3,000 family researchers, practitioners and educators. For more information on the National Council on Family Relations or its scholarly publications, visit the NCFR website at ncfr.org.