HDFS Faculty Service Award goes to Professor Marlene Schwartz. Marlene has demonstrated excellence in both service and leadership at UConn, throughout Connecticut and at the national level. Most notable at UConn is her leadership at The Rudd Center, but she has also been involved in many committees in the department and around the university. More broadly, her service and leadership roles have aimed to identify and implement strategies to improve nutrition and provide healthy food to food-insecure children in the United States, with a specific focus on Connecticut. She has worked tirelessly with the charitable food system and school settings as part of these efforts, and has worked extremely closely with food banks and food pantries in Connecticut.  Her frequent presence on advisory committees at all levels of government shows that she is the “go to” person for environmentally-oriented policy expertise related to childhood nutrition and obesity prevention.

The HDFS Faculty Research Award goes to Professor Rebecca Puhl. Rebecca has dedicated her career to research in the field of obesity and weight stigma with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of children and adults affected by obesity by coordinating research, education, and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight based bullying, stigma, and discrimination. She has 127 peer reviewed articles in top-notch academic journals and her work has been cited over 21,000. She is truly a pioneer in the obesity field and is the leading national expert in weight stigma research. Without Rebecca’s significant contributions, the field of research surrounding weight stigma and its impact of the lives of children and adults with obesity would likely not exist.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Annamaria Csizmadia, winner of the 2020 CLAS Teaching Excellence Award! This award honors faculty who have “displayed a commitment to innovative and exceptional pedagogy” and Annamaria certainly meets and exceeds these criteria. Annamaria excels as a teacher and mentor, infusing her classroom with innovative instruction and an appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Associate Professor Lisa Eaton’s commentary on how social and behavioral research on HIV informs COVID-19 prevention was featured in UConn Today. Read the article here.

Professor Rebecca Puhl and Assistant Professor Ryan Watson’s research on LGBTQ teens’ bullying, was featured in UConn Today. Read the article here.

Associate Professor Kari Adamsons was featured in UConn Today discussing how fathers can bond with their children on Father’s Day. Read the article here.

Associate Professor Beth Russell was featured in UConn Today for recent research on COVID-19 and stress. Read the article here.

Associate Professor Linda Halgunseth co-wrote a piece in the Providence Journal on COVID-19 and children’s wellbeing. Read the article here.

Emertius Professor Steven Wisensale had an Opinion letter posted in the NY Times related to Coronavirus.

Professor Sara Harkness and Professor Charles Super’s research on Dutch and American child-rearing was recently quoted in an article by Kate Julian in the Atlantic entitled, “What happened to American childhood?”.