MINNEAPOLIS — The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) has awarded the organization’s prestigious Fellow status to three members for 2016.

Fellow status in NCFR is an honor awarded to 3 percent or fewer members of NCFR who have made outstanding and enduring contributions to the field of the family in scholarship, teaching, outreach or professional service, including service to NCFR.

Please click on each linked name below to read more about the awardee.

The members of the 2016 class of NCFR Fellows are:

• Libby Balter Blume: Libby Balter Blume is a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) and Professor of Psychology at the University of Detroit Mercy. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Texas Tech University, her MA in Interdisciplinary Creative Arts Education from San Francisco University, and her BA in Studio Art and Applied Behavioral Sciences from the University of California Davis. Dr. Blume is recognized for her consistent and outstanding contributions to families and social justice in several areas including practice, outreach, and teaching. She also has provided vision and leadership to the field through her roles as journal editor. She is the founding Director of the Certified Family Life Education program at the University of Detroit Mercy, an interdisciplinary CFLE program. She has also mentored students who have made significant contributions to the field of family science and NCFR. Dr. Blume is also Editor-in-Chief of NCFR’s Journal of Family Theory & Review.
   
• Stephen T. Russell: Stephen T. Russell is the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor in Child Development in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Russell earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wake Forest University, his master’s degree in sociology from The College of William and Mary, and his Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University. He has published more than 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters and his work is widely cited. Equally impressive, his nominators certify that he is a vocal and very effective advocate for social justice and inclusivity. In particular, “his research on the school environment’s impact on the health and well-being of ethnic minority and sexual minority students has helped the field to understand the importance of creating safe climates for all young people.”
   
• Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor: Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Professor in the School of Social and Family Dynamics and Foundation Professor and Executive Director, Latino Resilience Enterprise, at Arizona State University. Dr. Umaña-Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in child development and family relationships at the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in human development and family studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Umaña-Taylor is a major figure in the field of Latino adolescent adjustment because of her groundbreaking use of methodological advances and innovative culturally-informed theories to explore how ethnic identity develops over time and interacts with discrimination to affect adolescent risk and resilience.

Visit NCFR's Fellows webpage to learn more about Fellow status.

The National Council on Family Relations is the premier professional association for the multidisciplinary understanding of families. NCFR has a membership of more than 3,000 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.