FSOS student and professors emeriti honored by AAMFT

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and its Research & Education Foundation annually honors individuals for their contributions to MFT research and practice. This year Jessica Simpson, PhD student, and Pauline Boss and David Olson, professors emeriti, all in Family Social Science, were honored.

Jessica Simpson has been recognized with the Master’s Thesis Award for her work, “I lost my family: Grief, loss, and identity formation of fostered and adopted American Indian individuals,” which she successfully defended in 2020. Her research examines American Indian families impacted by trauma (e.g. separation, foster care, adoption), factors that contribute to the alleviation of trauma symptoms following family separation, and stress theories and risk and protective factors that help explain why some American Indian families report fewer trauma symptoms. She is a second-year student in the FSOS doctoral program in Couple and Family Therapy.

Pauline Boss and David Olson were recognized with AAMFT Emeritus Awards for their longstanding scholarship and service to the field of marriage and family therapy. Here’s the video of Dr. Boss’s award and here is the link to Dr. Olson’s award.

Boss to share insights

Dr. Boss will share her insights and research regarding ambiguous loss at the College of Education and Human Development’s Scholar Spotlight, Tuesday, November 9, noon-1 p.m. Learn more and register.