The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is proud to recognize the 2022 recipients of its prestigious designated awards.

Each year, NCFR is privileged to recognize an impressive group of award recipients at its annual conference and 2022 was no exception. Congrats to these award recipients!

Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring

Chalandra Bryant, Ph.D., CFLE
Christine M. Proulx, Ph.D.

Felix Berardo, professor at the University of Florida, went beyond expectations in his mentoring of many students who became leaders in the family field. The award recognizes an NCFR member for excellence in mentoring junior colleagues, graduate students, or undergraduates.

Dr. Bryant is currently a full professor and director of research in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Proulx is an associate professor in human development and Family Science at the University of Vermont and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

 

Ernest W. Burgess Award

Shelley M. MacDermid Wadsworth, Ph.D., CFLE

Ernest W. Burgess, the namesake of this award, cofounded NCFR and was the organization's fourth president. He was a pioneer in his contributions to marriage and family research. This award recognizes an NCFR member's outstanding scholarly achievement in the study of families.

Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth is a distinguished professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, where she also directs the Military Family Research Institute and the Center for Families. Her research primarily focuses on the relationship between job conditions and family life, with a special focus on military families.

 

Jessie Bernard Outstanding Research Proposal From a Feminist Perspective

Amie Kahovec Allen, M.S.

Presented to a graduate student or new professional who has demonstrated excellence in research and potential contribution to feminist scholarship. Jessie Bernard, the namesake of the award, was a pioneer in the field of feminist family studies known for her celebrated description of “his” and “her” marriages.

Amie Kahovec Allen is a doctoral candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the Child and Family Studies department. Her paper is titled “Domestic Violence Exposure and Legal System Involvement Experiences of Young Adults: A Retrospective, Intersectional, Qualitative Study.”

 

NCFR Student Award

Athena Chung Yin Chan, M.S.

Given for demonstrated excellence as a student with great potential for contributing to Family Science.

Ms. Chan is a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota in Family Social Science. She is committed to a research career focused on understanding stress, coping, and resilience over the life course. As an international student from Hong Kong, she recognized that the global pandemic was a unique opportunity to study cross-cultural resilience processes in families. She has published her cross-cultural findings from the early months of the pandemic and will present her recent findings at the NCFR conference.

 

Feldman Outstanding Research Proposal for Research in Family Policy

Matthew Ogan, M.S.

Recognizes a graduate student or new professional who has demonstrated excellence in research and potential contribution to family policy studies. Harold and Margaret Feldman, the namesakes of this award, were pioneers in the field of family policy.

Matthew Ogan is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Science at the University of Missouri. His paper is titled “Making Space to Connect: The Role of Family Income Support in Low-Income Couples’ Relationship Functioning.”

 

John L. and Harriette P. McAdoo Dissertation Award

August Jenkins, Ph.D.

John L. and Harriette P. McAdoo, the namesakes of this award, made significant contributions to the scholarship on ethnic minority families, especially our understanding of African Americans' familial experiences. The award provides support for the recipient to complete an approved doctoral dissertation with a focus on issues impacting ethnic minority families.

Dr. Jenkins is a family diversity postdoctoral scholar in the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests focus on the socioecological and gendered connections that affect Black Americans’ intimate relationships and mental-emotional health across time.    

 

Reuben Hill Award

Kristin Turney, Ph.D.
Naomi F. Sugie, Ph. D.

Named in memory of Reuben Hill, distinguished university professor and pioneer of the scholarly study of family. Awarded to the author(s) of an outstanding article or book that combines theory and methodology to analyze and interpret a significant family issue.

Dr. Turney is a professor in the Department of Sociology (and, by courtesy, Criminology, Law, and Society) at the University of California, Irvine. Her research investigates the role of stressors in creating, maintaining, and exacerbating social inequalities in health and wellbeing.

Dr. Sugie is an associate professor in the Criminology, Law and Society Department (and by courtesy, the Sociology Department) at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on issues of punishment, inequality, and technologies for research with traditionally hard-to-reach groups.

 

NCFR Olson Grant: Bridging Research, Theory, and Practice

Bethany Willis, Ph.D., CFLE
Katie Hrapczynski, Ph.D., LMFT
Cheryl Fortner, Ph.D.

This grant is awarded to NCFR members working to creatively contribute to the discipline of Family Science by effectively uniting research, theory, and practice in their work.

David H. Olson, Ph.D., the namesake of the grant, is renowned for his many contributions to Family Science as a scholar, teacher, therapist, and professional.

Dr. Willis and her colleagues  will test a theoretical model that utilizes the lens of symbolic interactionism to capture the consideration and decision to adopt, the transition to adoptive parenthood, and post-adoption family adjustment over time.

Their findings will be presented at the 2023 NCFR Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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