Melissa Lippold, Ph.D., has received a promotion to associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2018.
“Dr. Lippold brings high standards and enthusiasm to her research, teaching and service and sets an example for the School,” Dean Gary Bowen said in making the announcement.
Lippold joined the UNC School of Social Work in 2013. She serves on the faculty of the Center for Developmental Science, an inter-institutional community of researchers who are studying human development, and as a faculty affiliate with the Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Her research focuses on parent-youth relationships and their affect on the prevention of risky behavior and promotion of physical health in adolescents.
Before coming to Chapel Hill, Lippold worked with a treatment foster care program and conducted research at the Chapin Hall Center for Children. She has also been involved with intervention projects including PROSPER (studying the effectiveness of substance use prevention programs) and the Strengthening Families program.
She earned her Ph.D. in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University (2012), master’s degrees in social work and in public policy from the University of Chicago (2003) and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder (1994). She was a recipient of the Graham Fellowship (Pennsylvania) and the McCormick Fellowship and Helen Clausen Scholarship (Chicago).
Lippold is also a recipient of the Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
“Her dossier delineates a comprehensive path for future success and is proof of her dedication to the mission of the School of Social Work and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,” Dean Bowen noted. “I have every expectation that she will continue along her exceptional path.”
