UMass Welcomes Elsbeth Neil, Ph.D., as its New Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology
Following an intensive international search, UMass Amherst is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Elsbeth (Beth) Neil as the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology.
With a background in both psychology and social work, Dr. Neil’s work encompasses psychological perspectives, social policy implications, and practice issues relating to adoption. Her adoption research studies have provided opportunities to explore identity development, loss and separation, the impact of abuse, neglect and institutionalization, but also recovery and resilience. She is interested in people’s lived experience of adoption: the adopted person across the lifespan, their birth family members, and their adoptive parents. Dr. Neil uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore experiences and outcomes related to adoption, particularly for children who have experienced early adversity such as those adopted from the foster care system. She has a particular interest in open adoption - the experience and impact of different openness arrangements for all concerned.
The Rudd Adoption Research Program is located within the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Our mission is to advance knowledge about the psychology of adoption through original research; mentor the next generation of adoption-competent researchers; engage with community partners to incubate and evaluate innovative programs that have potential for national impact; and provide research-based information to influence practice and policy at agency, state, federal, and international levels. Learn more about the program
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