NCFR Recognizes Joseph Grzywacz and Anne Edwards for Outstanding Mentorship

The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is proud to recognize Joseph “Joe” G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., and Anne B. Edwards, Ph.D., CFLE, as the 2019 co-recipients of the Felix Berardo Scholarship Award, which is given to NCFR members for excellence in mentoring junior colleagues or students.

Joseph Grzywacz

Dr. Grzywacz is the Norejane Hendrickson professor of family and child sciences and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University. His research focuses on how the experiences and contexts of everyday work and family life create or exaggerate health inequalities. This research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the past 17 years, as well as many other federal agencies. Dr. Grzywacz has published over 225 peer-reviewed articles, in the flagship journals including Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, and Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. He has served the editorial boards of Journal of Marriage and Family and Family Relations for over a decade, guest edited two special issues of Family Relations, and he is current deputy editor of Family Relations. He is most proud of his involvement in helping at least 10 scientists, ranging from predoctoral candidates to associate professors obtain their first NIH grant. Dr. Grzywacz was named an NCFR Fellow in 2012.

Dr. Grzywacz is recognized by his students and peers alike as being committed to the mentorship and professional development of future generations of researchers and academic scholars, especially women of color and ethnic minority scholars. Fiorella L. Carlos Chavez, Ph.D., one of his many mentees, notes this in her letter of recommendation and adds that often at conferences and presentations, students and faculty “who were not necessarily [Dr. Grzywacz’s] advisee per se, nor were they working in the same academic institution, would approach him … [seeking] guidance, support, and mentorship.” Dr. Carlos Chavez went on to write that in her experience, it is “rarely been the case that a teacher sacrifices his own time and energy” to go to such great lengths to help students.

Anne Edwards

Dr. Edwards earned her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in human development and family studies, with a graduate minor in statistics. She joined the faculty of Purdue University Northwest in 1997. Dr. Edwards was appointed head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and served from 2012-2016. She is currently a co-director of the Institute for Social Policy Research, and the coordinator of the HDFS program at Purdue University Northwest. Dr. Edwards has served as a thesis chair for over 60 master’s students in the marriage and family therapy program. Her research areas include the stress process of caregivers of people with dementia, and grandparents rearing grandchildren.

In her letter of recommendation, Megan J. Murphy, Ph.D., LMFT, describes how Dr. support of students extends beyond her role as a faculty member, in that Dr. Edwards “doesn’t just teach statistics … she helps students become less fearful and more comfortable with statistics … for others, she recognizes an ability/talent for statistics that she nurtures.” Dr. Murphy also marvels at the love expressed for Dr. Edwards by her former students and notes this displays a “a wonderful, caring, compassionate relationship for a faculty member to establish routinely with others… [which is] not often recognized or valued in academia.”

Dr. Grzywacz and Dr. Edwards will be recognized for their achievements at the 2019 NCFR Annual Conference, Nov. 20-23 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Felix Berardo, the namesake of this award, was a beloved professor at the University of Florida who went beyond expectations in his mentoring of many students who became leaders in the family field.

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.