Military Family Research Institute director receives prestigious awards

Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Health and Human Sciences, is one of three Purdue professors chosen to receive the University’s most prestigious research awards.

MacDermid Wadsworth will receive the 2019 Lu Ann Aday Award for exceptional work in the humanities and social sciences. Professor MacDermid Wadsworth, who is also director and co-founder of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue, is being recognized for her conceptualization and development of a series of outstanding, innovative scholarly works of research on military and veteran families.

The Lu Ann Aday Award consists of a monetary prize of $4,000 plus an additional contribution of $7,000 to support the research of the recipient.

Professor MacDermid Wadsworth will present the Lu Ann Aday Distinguished Lecture at 10:30 a.m. October 28 in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall.

2019 Faculty Engagement Fellow Award

This award is presented by Purdue University Office of Engagement to a full professor whose work has led to a strong record in the scholarship of engagement. The 2019 winner is Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor, Human Development and Family Studies, College of Health and Human Sciences.

Star Behavioral Health Providers (SBHP), a training and referral system aimed at improving community mental health care for military members, veterans, and their families. Created by MFRI, under Shelley’s leadership, in partnership with the Indiana National Guard and the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP), SBHP addresses several problems: Deployments of over 2 million members of the U.S. military since 2001 have generated as many as 400,000 cases of mental health problems, and also advances in evidence-based treatments. Needs for care exceed the capacity of the Departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs, especially for family members.