Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Chair
Dr. Harold Grotevant has joined the Department of Psychology as the The Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Chair. A gift from Andrew and Virginia Rudd, combined with matching funds, provided the resources for this endowed chair. In this capacity, Dr. Grotevant leads the Rudd Adoption Research Program, which is affiliated with the multidisciplinary Center for Research on Families.
The goal of the Rudd Adoption Research Program is to establish UMass Amherst as the leader in state-of-the-art research on the psychology of adoption through conferences, workshops, graduate and postdoctoral training opportunities, and stimulation of research activities. The program will develop synergy among scientists from the varied disciplines who share interests in the many topics relevant to adoption. Program activities will contribute to evidence-based practice in adoption and will provide research-based information to influence policy at agency, state, federal, and international levels. Notices of program activities will be posted at this site.
Dr. Grotevant is also the Principal Investigator on the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project , a 20-year longitudinal research study that focuses on the consequences of variations in adoptive family - birth family contact arrangements. The study has examined how relationships have evolved in the adoptive kinship networks across Wave 1 (middle childhood), Wave 2 (adolescence), and Wave 3 (emerging adulthood). The study includes adopted persons (who are now in their 20s), their adoptive parents, and their birth relatives. Current work is being funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Science Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation.
ANNUAL CONFERENCES:
"New Worlds of Adoption: Growing Up in Complex Families" Friday, February 20, 2009. Click here for details.
"New Worlds of Adoption: Linking Research with Practice"
April 7, 2010. More information coming soon!
