Associate professor Melissa Lippold has been awarded the Prudence F. and Peter J. Meehan Early Career Professorship. Lippold is the first to receive the award, which was established in 2015 to support the research and scholarly interests of junior faculty members. The professorship was created from a $1 million gift from the Meehans, who have been long-time supporters of the School of Social Work. The donation, among the largest in the School’s history, helps to support student scholarships, assist in the recruitment and retention of promising junior faculty, and fund new innovation initiatives to meet emerging needs in the field of social work. Since joining the School’s faculty in 2013, Lippold has earned recognition for her research on the role that parent-youth relationships play in the prevention of adolescent risky behavior and the promotion of adolescent physical health, an area of study that the National Institutes of Health has noted as promising. In addition, Lippold is interested in the design of family-based interventions aimed to improve family relationships and promote healthy outcomes for adolescents. Dean Gary L. Bowen praised Lippold’s work and her selection for the professorship. “Dr. Lippold is exemplary in the extent to which her accomplishments reflect innovation, a rigorous approach to social work research, scholarship that is attracting the attention of others, and work that is advancing social work and related disciplines,” Bowen said. “Dr. Lippold’s research has clear implications for intervention and has high impact on individuals, families and communities. She is most deserving of this recognition.”
