MFRI director recognized as a top contributor to work and family research

Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth speaking at MFRI advisory council meeting

Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor of Human Development and Family Studies and director of the Center for Families (CFF) and the Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) at Purdue University, has been named one of the top extraordinary contributors to the field of work and family research.

The top contributors were identified by E. Jeffrey Hill, PhD, and colleagues at Brigham Young University with their eight modalities of excellence which includes:

• Publishing work and family scholarship (based on academic metrics: citation counts, articles, books, indices, etc.)
• Publishing work and family scholarship (based on reputation among work and family scholars)
• Funding of work and family research
• Disseminating work and family research to policy makers and the public
• Providing service to the field (reviews, professional organizations, etc.)
• Mentoring future work and family scholars (e.g., graduate students, new scholars, etc.)
• Making landmark contributions that have shaped the field (e.g., landmark articles, books, reports, etc.)
• Overall contribution (based on reputation among work and family scholars)

To identify the eight modalities of excellence, Hill conducted extensive research involving analyses of academic metrics, focus groups with top work and family scholars, and a survey of Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN) members.

MacDermid Wadsworth joined other top contributors on a panel at the WFRN conference on June 22 who shared their experience in guiding the work-family research field.

About MacDermid Wadsworth

Shelley M. MacDermid Wadsworth is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, where she also directs the Center for Families and Military Family Research Institute. She holds an M.B.A. in Management and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on relationships between job conditions and family life, with a special focus on military families and organizational policies, programs and practices. Over the past 24 years, she has studied differences between small and large workplaces, how adults grow and develop as a result of their work experiences, and how different kinds of organizational policies make it easier or more difficult for workers to be successful at work and at home.

Her research has been widely published in scientific outlets including the Journal of Marriage and Family and the Academy of Management Journal, and has been funded and has been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Henry A. Murray Center, the Department of Defense, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the state of Indiana, Lilly Endowment, and others.

MacDermid Wadsworth is a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations, and a recipient of the Work Life Legacy Award from the Families and Work Institute and the Violet Haas Award for Leadership on behalf of women at Purdue University. MacDermid Wadsworth has served on federal advisory committees for the Department of Defense and the Institute of Medicine, and has testified in Congress regarding military and veteran families. In 2012, she received the Morrill Award from Purdue University in recognition of outstanding career achievements that have had an impact on society, and in 2016, Purdue University received the Kellogg Award from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and the Higher Education Civic Engagement Award from the Washington Center in recognition of the work of the Military Family Research Institute.

She serves on the editorial boards of several major family research journals, and is a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations and a recipient of the Work Life Legacy Award from the Families and Work Institute. She served on the Returning Veterans Committee of the Institute of Medicine and the Psychological Health External Advisory Committee of the Defense Health Board. She is currently serving on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that focuses on military families’ well-being.

About Center for Families and the Military Family Research Institute

CFF and MFRI are an initiative of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Purdue University. One of the world’s premiere research institutions, Purdue is Indiana’s land-grant university, and supports missions of learning, discovery and engagement.