Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth is a Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, where she directs the Center for Families, as well as the Military Family Research Institute, which she co-founded. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth holds an M.B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from The Pennsylvania State University. Her primary research interest is the relationship between work conditions and family life, with special focus on military families. She is an author of over 140 articles and chapters, and her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health; the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Agriculture; state governments; and numerous private philanthropies. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth is a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations, and a recipient of the Work Life Legacy Award from the Families and Work Institute. She has served on federal advisory committees for the National Academies of Science and the Department of Defense, and has testified in Congress on multiple occasions regarding military and veteran families. In 2016, Purdue University received the Kellogg Award from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and the Higher Education Civic Engagement Award from the Washington Center in recognition of the work of the Military Family Research Institute. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth is a recipient of the Morrill Award, Purdue University's highest faculty honor, for outstanding career achievements that have had an impact on society, and in 2019 was named a “Top Ten Extraordinary Contributor” among work-family researchers worldwide.