Human Development and Family Science

Posted: Oct. 4, 2018

Ashton Chapman, an alumna of the University of Missouri (PhD, Human Environmental Sciences), has been selected to participate in a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation leadership development program designed to equip leaders across the country — in every sector and field — to collaborate, break down silos, and use their influence to make communities healthier and more equitable.

Specifically, Chapman was selected to participate in the Culture of Health Leaders program. Designed for people from all sectors — from technology and business to architecture and urban planning — Culture of Health Leaders fosters cross-sector collaboration. The program enables participants to remain in their homes and jobs and directly apply everything they learn to improving policy and practice in their communities and organizations.

Chapman is currently a postdoctoral research associate in human development and family studies at Iowa State University and associate director of research and engagement for the ISU Translational Research Network, familiarly known as U-TuRN. The transdisciplinary U-TuRN network aims to bridge science with practice through community-engaged scholarship. The network is building sustainable systems that empower communities to take science-based actions that enable healthier lifestyles for all.

As a member of the Culture of Health Leaders program’s newest cohort, Chapman’s work will focus on ways to improve the social and emotional health of older adults and their families in rural America. As part of the program, she will also:

• Benefit from high-caliber curricula and coaching from national leaders.
• Collaborate with other cutting-edge thinkers to create greater impact.
• Accelerate her ability to build healthy communities, inform public opinion and policy, and contribute significantly to building a culture of health.

Posted: Oct. 3, 2018

Posted: Sep. 27, 2018

Posted: Aug. 23, 2018

Posted: May 7, 2018

The HDFS Child Life Student Association (CLSA) was recently honored for their MizzouThon fundraising and Adopt-A-Family support team efforts! They earned a 1st Place in the MizzouThon Miracle Cup competition! MizzouThon is the largest student-run philanthropy at the University of Missouri. Students work year-round to provide support, both financially and emotionally, to pediatric patients in mid-Missouri. Congratulations CLSA!

Posted: Apr. 30, 2018

Congratulations to Dr. Tashel Bordere on receiving the Faculty Visionary Award from the Center for Academic Success & Excellence (CASE). This award is given to one remarkable faculty member that is vital to the graduating seniors’ student success and also supports the CASE mission of developing and providing high impact educational experiences that contribute to the persistence and graduation of underrepresented/ underserved students at the University of Missouri.

Posted: Apr. 30, 2018

Doctoral candidate Chang Su-Russell was recently awarded the 2018 Donald K. Anderson Award for Graduate Teaching. Chang is picture with her advisor, Dr. Jean Ispa and her husband, Dr. Luke Russell, the 2017 Anderson Graduate Teaching Award winner. We are fairly confident that this is the first time that there have been spousal winners of the prestigious Anderson Teaching Awards in Mizzou’s history. Next year Chang and Luke will be faculty members at Illinois State University. Congratulations!

Posted: Apr. 23, 2018

Doctoral candidate Caroline Sanner was awarded the HES Outstanding Graduate Student Researcher Award last week as part of the HEW Week celebrations. Congratulations, Caroline!

Posted: Apr. 23, 2018

Dr. Ashlie Lester received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Dr. Lester is the Director of Graduate Studies in HDFS and is also an outstanding teacher of undergraduate and graduate courses. She advises all of the Family and Community Services master’s degree students, teaches HDFS 2400W, a large writing intensive course, and oversees 14 graduate teaching assistants. Congratulations, Dr. Lester!

Posted: Apr. 23, 2018

Dr. Christine Proulx received the Graduate Professional Council’s Gold Chalk Award. The Gold Chalk Award recognizes University of Missouri faculty who have made significant contributions to the education and training of graduate and professional students. Dr. Proulx will be honored at a banquet on Wednesday, April 25th. Congratulations, Dr. Proulx!

Posted: Apr. 2, 2018

Assistant Professor and State Extension Specialist Kale Monk was selected to receive the Steve Duck New Scholar Award from the International Association for Relationship Research in support of his research on personal relationships. Kale was nominated by colleagues in January and will receive the award at the bi-annual conference in Fort Collins, Colorado in July. Congratulations, Kale!

Posted: Apr. 2, 2018

HDFS PhD student, James Larsen, won a $500 Campbell-Harrison award through the College of Human Environmental Sciences! The awards were based on excellent professional promise. The goal of this scholarship is to recognize and support graduate students who show excellent professional promise through their cutting-edge research. Congratulations, James!

Posted: Feb. 5, 2018

Congratulations to Millsap Professor of Diversity, Dr. Gus Carlo, on his selection as the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Mentor Award from the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA). SRA gives this award to mentors who are senior scholars.

Posted: Jan. 29, 2018

Dr. Antoinette Landor was featured in the Winter 2017 NCFR Report in the Families and Health Section Spotlight. View online and in-print (see Page 8).

Posted: Jan. 8, 2018

Dr. Jacquelyn Benson's research on couples living apart and the impact it has on partners requiring caregiving was recently featured on MU News Bureau. Dr. Benson found that if more people, young and old, married or not, saw "Living Apart Together" as an option, it might save them from a lot of future heartache. However caregiving needs might cause such couples to change living arrangements.

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Posted: Nov. 6, 2017

HDFS alumna Dr. Velma McBride Murry received an Alumni Award from the Mizzou Alumni Association last Friday. Velma, who has two degrees from HDFS at MU, is the Lois Autrey Betts Chair in Education and Human Development and the Joe B. Wyatt University Distinguished Research Professor, and Professor of Human and Organizational Development in Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Velma also has an appointment as a Distinguished Senior Research Fellow at the George Brown School of Social Work of Washington University in St. Louis, and she co-directs the Community Engagement Research Core at the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical Translational Research. She is a proud and loyal alumna of Mizzou, and we take great pride in her many accomplishments as one of the nation’s leading authority on African American families and youth.

Dean Sandy Rikoon and the College celebrated her award with a luncheon attended by HDFS faculty and graduate students, as well as past winners from the College. She received her award Friday night at the Mizzou Alumni Association Banquet.

Posted: Oct. 16, 2017

Dr. Christine Proulx's research on older adults and the impact volunteering can have on brain function was recently featured on MU News Bureau. Dr. Proulx has identified a link between volunteering and higher levels of cognitive functioning in older adults.

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Posted: Sep. 18, 2017

HDFS students received 34 scholarship and fellowship awards on Sunday. Congratulations to all of them!

Elizabeth Vemer Memorial Minority Scholarships:

Caroline Sanner - Marilyn Coleman Graduate Fellowship and the Marilyn Coleman Outstanding Graduate Student Award and the Marilyn Coleman Alumni Graduate Scholarship

Nate Stoddard and Kwangman Ko - Lawrence H. Ganong Graduate Fellowship

Samantha Jones and Jeremy Kanter - Ruth Cook Scholarship in HDFS

Katarina Esser - Virginia Williams Sudduth Scholarship

Alaysia Brown - Z. Lois Bryant Memorial Scholarship

Logan Dicus - Marion K. and Vernon W. Piper Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship

Lindsey Murphy – Eleanor Blumenthal Graduate Fellowship

Jeremy Kanter – Mabel Campbell/Campbell-Harrison Scholarship

Samantha Marre – Missouri Farm Bureau Scholarship

Brooke Dearman – Virginia Lee Fisher Gumption Award

Madison Elison - Marion K. and Vernon W. Piper Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship

Bingxin Dai – Family and Consumer Sciences Education Scholarship

Emily Manning – Edward G. and Elizabeth Bower Family Scholarship

Graduate student scholarships winners Sarah Mitchell, Jeremy Kanter, Samantha Jones, Kwangman Ko, Madison Elison, Logan Dicus.

Posted: Sep. 18, 2017

Sam Marre is a senior studying Family and Lifespan Development in the Department of Human Development and Family Science. Her hometown is Elsberry, Missouri. Sam is involved in a number of organizations, including Catholic Student Association, Sigma Alpha Professional Agriculture Sorority and the Missouri Future Farmers of America Association where she has served as a LEAD Conference Facilitator. As an HES Ambassador she says one of her favorite MU/HES Experiences was when she had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Gallup, New Mexico, where she taught a religion class to kindergartners and served in the evenings at a soup kitchen/homeless shelter. One of the things she likes most about MU is that "Mizzou went from being just somewhere I went to college to my home. I have truly grown to love this University in these past few years. My favorite part about it, though, is that it has something for everyone." And, if you ask her about her favorite thing about HES, "I would say the size of the college. Since we are relatively small college it is much easier to get to know our colleagues and faculty members on a more personal level." Sam wants to continue her education after she graduates, ideally getting into a master’s program for counseling in ministry at Loyola University. Her dream job would involve working for a hospice company as a chaplain.

Posted: Sep. 11, 2017

The College of Human Environmental Sciences is pleased to name the first group of HES Faculty Scholars. For the next two years, these individuals will carry named titles and receive additional resources to support their research.

The first group of HES Faculty Scholars has been made possible by donors who have established endowments in support of faculty. "The HES Faculty Scholars program represents the perfect union between our amazing faculty and the generosity of our donors and supporters," said Sandy Rikoon, Dean of HES. "A key strength of our college is the excellence of our faculty, and it is contributions to the college from our alumni and friends that allow us to recruit and retain the best faculty in the country."

Selected by unit leaders and other advisors, HES Faculty Scholars are designated either Research Scholars or Teaching Scholars. Research Scholar awards recognize the demonstration of research excellence and plans for research production and productivity over the two years of the award. Teaching Scholar awards are for individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom and scholarly contributions to pedagogy or other dimensions of educational scholarship.

The HDFS recipient of this award is Director of Graduate Studies and Assistant Teaching Professor Ashlie Lester, who will be the Norman and Marilyn Pick HES Teaching Scholar.