A gift of $2.5 million from Andrew and Virginia Rudd of
California, combined with matching funds, will create a $6.25
million endowed professorship in psychology at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst. The position will be dedicated
to the study of complex issues surrounding adoption.
The endowed chair, based in the psychology department, is designed to attract
a pre-eminent international scholar to build a high-profile research program
and lecture series to rapidly advance the study of adoption and play a significant
role in advancing public policy in the field.
The Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Psychology will be created with the
Rudd gift, $2.5 million in available matching funds, and $1.25 million from the
state's Public Higher Education Incentive program. The fund will provide for
support of a new senior faculty member, including research aid and an annual
lecture or seminar series. The fund will be administered by the UMass Amherst
Foundation. A major goal of the seminar series will be to foster sustained communication
between scholars and public policy experts in adoption.
UMass Amherst Chancellor John V. Lombardi said the Rudd gift recognizes the excellence
of the existing work being done by faculty in psychology and promises to make
a significant impact on the public policy debates concerning adoption.
"This gift also demonstrates how the generosity of a family can leverage other
sources of funding to enhance a donor's wishes and strengthen the university," Lombardi
said. "It shows how private giving, public support and academic excellence can
address a vitally important field such as adoption."
The
Rudd family has close ties to UMass Amherst. Dr. and Mrs. Rudd are the parents
of Alexi Rudd, who completed her undergraduate studies at the university in 2004
with a degree in sociology and psychology. In 2000, the Rudd Family Foundation
provided funding to create Rudd Field, an outstanding soccer facility for the
men's and women's Division I teams. Andrew Rudd also serves as a founding director
of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation, Inc.
"Over the last few years we have come to appreciate and respect the academic
excellence of UMass and the strong leadership of its academic programs," the
Rudds noted in a statement. "Consequently, it was an easy decision to locate
our gift in the psychology department at UMass Amherst. Our goal is that the
professorship should act as a catalyst in focusing academic research on the emotional
and psychological trauma often experienced by adoptees. Eventually, we hope research
might be able to suggest potential avenues toward a better understanding of adoption
issues."
The new psychology professorship will be located within the Child, Adolescent
and Family (CAF) concentration in the clinical division of the department of
psychology. CAF has been designated as an area of exceptional strength within
the psychology department, and it includes faculty members highly respected in
the field of family psychology. The new endowed professorship will also be affiliated
with the Center for Research on Families based in the College of Social and Behavioral
Sciences.
Establishment of the endowed chair and programs associated with it are expected
to produce a rapid advance in the understanding of the basic physiological, psychological,
and behavioral processes involved in adoption and its effects on child development,
according to professor Sally Powers, head of the psychology department's clinical
division.
"Within psychology, there are many areas of basic and clinical research that
have important implications for understanding adoption and its effects," Powers
said. "These include studies of biological, emotional and social processes involved
in attachment and bonding; the effect of stress and trauma, particularly early
separation trauma; family processes such as parenting and marital relationships
in families of origin and adoptive families; the interacting influence of genetics
and the environment on child development, and factors that foster resiliency
and coping in children exposed to early family disruptions."
A gift of $2.5 million from Andrew and Virginia Rudd of
California, combined with matching funds, will create a $6.25
million endowed professorship in psychology at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst. The position will be dedicated
to the study of complex issues surrounding adoption.