The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is proud to recognize Robert Hughes, Jr.  as the 2017 recipient of the Ernest G. Osborne Award, which is given to an NCFR member who has excelled in teaching family science and providing service to families through teaching.

Dr. Hughes is professor of Human Development & Family Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A major aspect of his professional work has focused on the development of effective Family Life Education (FLE) programs. He has written articles and chapters that outline best practices in the design of FLE programs and applied these ideas to the creation of online programs. One of the highlights of his work was being a technical advisor to Sesame Street in its development of an online app called, ‘Little Kids, Big Challenges—Divorce.” In recent years he has focused on developing courses for undergraduate students that provide professional development experiences and career planning. In his freshman-level course, he guides students in developing a series of out-of-class service and research activities that can prepare them for work or advanced study. In his junior-level course, he provides individual guidance in helping them finalize the next stages of their careers. He also teaches the Introduction of Family Studies course in which he identifies the grand challenges facing families and encourages students to commit to a life-long effort through science, service and social change to improve the lives of families. 

Dr. Hughes will be recognized for his achievement at the 2017 NCFR Annual Conference, Nov. 15-18 in Orlando, Florida.

Ernest G. Osborne, the namesake of this award, was a three-time NCFR president and a professor of family at Columbia University. He excelled at innovative teaching methods.

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.