In the collegiate sporting world, a visit to the White House is often associated with a crowning moment for national championship teams. For people examining the very real-world effects that wars and global conflicts have on families, a presidential invitation can be a humbling experience. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, director of Purdue’s Military Family Research Institute (MFRI), has been humbled and awed by several White House visits.
MFRI, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in fall 2010, was created in peacetime by the Department of Defense to generate knowledge about military families. The government wanted to gauge the general satisfaction of military families, commitment levels of service men and women and how it all affects military personnel in doing their work.
“From the beginning we’ve been able to make observations about military families, point out gaps in programs and services and keep our eyes on the unmet needs of military families,” says MacDermid Wadsworth, also professor of family studies and HHS associate dean for academic affairs.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 2 million military service members have been deployed, many to the far corners of the world for multiple tours of duty. The research and outreach efforts of MFRI have helped ease both the burdens of families at home and the reintegration of military personnel into society. For example, Operation Diploma (MFRI’s higher education initiative) has awarded more than $1.4 million to help higher education campuses across Indiana create supportive services for student service members and veterans.
For MacDermid Wadsworth, the institute is an extension of the work that preceded it. “One of the reasons MFRI has been able to do its work is because the people who created the Center for Families 16 years ago had a vision about the role Purdue could play in society in trying to address quality of life issues for families,” she says. “Had those people not had that vision, I don’t believe MFRI would have come to Purdue and achieved what it has today.”
In 2010, Lilly Endowment awarded the institute a $6.3 million grant. MFRI employs several people who are military family members themselves (see Jamie Simek on page 26), so the struggles at home are very real and understood. No surprise then that the programs, grants and initiatives originating from MFRI resonate with the families they’re serving — and some appreciative folks at the White House.
For more information on the Military Family Research Institute, visit www.mfri.purdue.edu,
Difference Makers: Secure America
Boiler Bytes: Purdue organizations honor, help military members.
