APLU Announces 2022 Board on Human Sciences Award Winners

Washington, DC – The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Board on Human Sciences (BoHS) today announced that four public university scholars will be honored with 2022 Board on Human Sciences Awards. The annual awards, to be presented on November 6, 2022, are given to national leaders working to advance human sciences in higher education.

The awards support the development and stewardship of academic excellence in human sciences; elevate visibility and leveraging resources to support human sciences research, Extension and teaching programs; and educate leaders regarding the capacity of the human sciences to solve human problems. The honors are part of the broader BoHS mission of promoting the intellectual integrity and stature of the human sciences at APLU member institutions.

This year’s award winners are:

2022 Outstanding Engagement Award
Dr. Holly Hatton-Bowers, an associate professor and Early Childhood Extension Specialist in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the winner of the 2022 Outstanding Engagement Award. The award recognizes a campus-based or state-level faculty member with exceptional creativity and scholarship in the development, application, and evaluation of outreach, Extension, and public service programs.

Dr. Hatton-Bowers’s scholarship activities focus on enhancing and supporting the emotional well-being of caregivers, helping professionals, and young children. She is committed to addressing issues of systemic inequities in early care and education and brings these issues to the forefront of her work. Dr. Hatton-Bowers and her team led the creation and dissemination of the “A Beautiful Day Virtual Learning Space” program as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has an international impact through her “Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators (CHIME)” project, which was recently adapted for educators in Brazil.

2022 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award
Dr. Anthony J. Ferraro, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Kansas State University is the winner of the 2022 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. The award recognizes a faculty member in the human sciences for exceptional performance as a research mentor to undergraduate students.

Dr. Ferraro has developed a robust research program focusing on adjustment during periods of stress and transition, with an emphasis on divorce and co-parenting relationships. His multi-tiered research team includes undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students, allowing for mentorship and collaboration across levels. Dr. Ferraro also teaches the undergraduate research methods course for Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) students. His HDFS Research Lecture Series, featuring both internal and external faculty, introduces students to a variety of research topics in the field as well as opportunities for them to get involved in undergraduate research.

2022 Ellen Swallow Richards Public Service Award
Dr. Jo Britt-Rankin, an Extension Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at University of Missouri is the winner of the 2022 Ellen Swallow Richards Public Service Award. The award honors a nationally recognized leader who has a significant history of promoting and advancing the human sciences.

Throughout her career, Dr. Britt-Rankin’s scholarship has focused on food choice, dietary quality, and food insecurity with a special focus on families with limited resources. From 2004-2021, Dr. Britt-Rankin served as the Associate Dean/Program Director for Human Environmental Sciences Extension at the University of Missouri. She served as the facilitator for the Mizzou Advantage Program’s Food for the Future Initiative, and was instrumental in the launch of the MU Family Impact Center in Columbia, Missouri. The center provides tax assistance, family support, medical care, and programs for youth excellence and college preparation for low-income communities. Additionally, Dr. Britt-Rankin has been nationally recognized for her decades of work with SNAP-Education and the Expanded Food & Nutritional Education Program (EFNEP).

2022 Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Beatrice Litherland Smith, dean emerita of the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri, is the winner of the 2022 Board on Human Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors a nationally recognized leader who has a significant history of promoting and advancing the human sciences in higher education.

Dr. Smith is a transformational land grant administrator, an ardent cheerleader for the adoption of the “human sciences” terminology, and steward for human sciences academic units. During her 25-year tenure as dean for the College of Human Environmental Sciences, her leadership raised the college to national stature with its ground-breaking academic programs, relevant research, and vibrant outreach. Dr. Smith was also known for fostering and mentoring young leaders in the human sciences. On a national level, she held leadership roles with APLU’s Board on Human Sciences and the American Home Economics Association. Dr. Smith retired in 2001 after a quarter-century of acclaimed leadership and continues to be engaged with the human sciences through volunteer service and philanthropy.