2005 Donor Honor Roll

A list of the generous donors who have helped make this year's scholarships a reality for our students.

The Family Science Department is on the move---recruiting world-class faculty and highly talented undergraduate and graduate students.  Our groundbreaking research is improving the socioeconomic, social-emotional, and physical well-being of children and families from inner-city neighborhoods to rural Maryland communities.  We are working to educate Maryland legislators and citizens about key family issues, such as mental health, prescription drugs, and adolescent pregnancy prevention, through the Department's Maryland Family Policy Impact Seminar.  Our doctoral students are winning national awards, and our top-ranked Marriage and Family therapy program is providing family therapy to 500 area families annually. 

Family Science faculty, staff, and students are striving to become one of the nation's top 10 family studies programs. To achieve this goal, we are asking for your help. 

From 1968 to the present day, Family Science has benefited from the generosity of its alumni, alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends. Your gifts have enabled us to reach even higher levels of excellence, increasing student aid and strengthening our programs, faculty, and facilities.

Please browse this website to learn more about ways to give to Family Science and the very real impact of your gift on our teaching, scholarship, and community service.

Your Gift’s Impact

Your gift to the Family Science Department makes a difference! Regardless of the amount, your contribution greatly affects the lives of our students and increases the quality of our programs.

You may designate your gift to a specific scholarship or gift fund (listed below), or simply give an unrestricted gift to benefit the area of greatest need. Your gift may:

• Maintain or create a student scholarship
• Support student travel to professional conferences
• Fund an undergraduate summer research experience
• Sponsor an outstanding lecture, seminar series, or event
• Upgrade technology in graduate student offices, classrooms, and the main office
• Support a university-community partnership that addresses family problems
• Help us to recruit and retain the best faculty in family science and family therapy
• Fund a new initiative in an area of your personal interest
  

How To Make a Gift

Graduates, parents, and friends can make gifts to the Family Science Department with many kinds of assets. Options include cash, credit card payments, gifts of stock and marketable securities, and other assets. Your gift may have an even greater impact if your company will match the contribution.

You can make a Gift Online now.
A little care is necessary to ensure that the Family Science Department receives your online gift to the University of Maryland.  You have to change two key lines.  On line 2 of the University form, scroll down to the bottom of the drop box and click on "Other:  Specify the gift designation in the following field."  Then, on the third line that asks you to specify the school or college, type in Family Science. On that line, you can also add the name of the Scholarship or Gift Fund you wish to support (see below). We greatly appreciate your gift!

If you would like to discuss a potential gift, please contact:
Elaine Anderson, Chair
Department of Family Science
301.405.4010 or eanders@umd.edu

Scholarship Funds

Scholarship funds enable us to attract and retain the best and brightest students to our Family Science programs. There are talented students in every community, and in every socioeconomic class. Our Department’s goal is to provide an affordable education to the most talented undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing degrees in family studies. Scholarships often make the difference in whether or not a student is able to remain at the University of Maryland.

You may contribute to one of the scholarship funds below or support a new scholarship. Contact the Family Science Chair if you would like to initiate a new scholarship fund.

Ned Gaylin Endowed Scholarship Fund

Dr. Ned Gaylin taught, mentored, and inspired a generation of college students. This fund recognizes his outstanding career which included creation of the Couple and Family Therapy Master's program and tenure as the first chair of the department. Dr. Gaylin made pioneering contributions to the principles and pragmatics of the person-centered approach for healing individuals, couples, and families. He is internationally recognized for his research on family therapy process and outcome, and the enhancement of creativity. Dr. Gaylin’s commitment to improving the welfare of students continues through this scholarship fund, which will be used to provide financial assistance to Couple and Family Therapy students.

Andrew Billingsley Endowed Scholarship Fund

This scholarship honors Dr. Andrew Billingsley, former Chair and Professor of the Department of Family Science. One of the nation’s leading scholars on African American families, Dr. Billingsley is the author of seven seminal books, including Black Families in White America, Mighty Like a River: The Black Church and Social Reform, and Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African-American Families. His ground-breaking research earned him awards from such organizations as the National Council on Family Relations, the American Sociological Association, and the Association of Black Psychologists. Dr. Billingsley also served as President of Morgan State University and Vice President of Howard University. His scholarship is awarded to a Family Science student interested in pursuing research on ethnic minority families. 

Noel Myricks Endowed Scholarship Fund

Upon Dr. Noel Myricks’ retirement from the Family Science faculty and appointment to Emeritus status in summer 2004, the Department established an endowed scholarship honoring this distinguished educator. An outstanding teacher and nationally recognized family scholar specializing on the intersection of families and the law, Dr. Myricks also volunteered his time to develop, direct, and coach the University’s Mock Trial team, which won five national mock trial championships in the last decade. In 2003, Dr. Myricks was awarded the Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award and the University of Maryland System Regents Award for Mentorship. Dr. Myricks has requested that his scholarship be awarded to a first-generation college student in Family Science.  

Jeanette Spier Beavers Memorial Scholarship Fund

A dedicated therapist, political activist, and mother, Jeanette Spier Beavers cared deeply about the rights of the underprivileged and issues affecting families throughout the world.  Ms. Spier was a clinical social worker whose professional work included an individuals and couples therapy practice, adoption counseling, assisting the mentally ill, and extensive writing about families with disabled children. When she died in 1987, her sister established a memorial scholarship as a lasting tribute to her work in family therapy. This fund provides annual scholarship support for one or more graduate students enrolled in the Couple and Family Therapy Master’s program who share her commitment to providing therapy for economically disadvantaged families.

Jennifer Becker Carswell Award Fund

Jennifer Becker Carswell was an outstanding student in the Couple and Family Therapy Master’s program in Family Science, recognized by students and faculty for her superior work, engaging spirit, and dedication to serving the elderly and children. When she tragically died in 1995, her family and friends established the Jennifer Becker Carswell Award Fund. This award annually recognizes a second-year Couple and Family Therapy student for excellence in clinical work, a unique contribution to a clinical specialization, or a demonstrated financial need.  

Edlavitch Family Science Fund

Selma Tyser Edlavitch was an distinguished community volunteer whose generosity had a tremendous impact on Washington area families. A graduate of Towson State University, she was an elementary school teacher, business person, and fundraiser for numerous organizations serving children and families. Her sponsorship of the Edlavitch-Tyser Family Relations Forum of the Washington Hebrew Congregation benefited family members of every age, including young children, adolescents, single adults, married couples, and the elderly. The Edlavitch fund provides an annual scholarship to an outstanding student in Family Science. 

Department Gift Funds

Our Department gift funds enable us to provide Family Science students with excellent educational programs and experiences. Contributions to these funds enable us to address areas of highest need, including student travel, seminars and lectures, and research support. Funds may also be used to provide seed money for important new initiatives.

Family Science Gift Fund

Contributions to the Family Science Gift Fund will be used to strengthen the Department's academic programs. Donors may earmark their gifts to support undergraduate and graduate student research, sponsor a seminar series, fund student travel to professional conferences, or support special university-community partnerships that address family problems. Your gift will play a key role in enhancing excellence in family studies at the University.

Center for Healthy Families Fund

Gifts to this fund will be used to support the Marriage and Family Therapy program in numerous ways, including establishment of a clinical conference series, bringing in top mental health professionals as guest speakers, and funding innovative family therapy research projects. Students benefit directly from this fund, receiving financial assistance to present their research at professional meetings, attend clinical training workshops, and support their thesis/dissertation work on couple and family issues.

Endowed Chairs

The heart of an outstanding department is its faculty. Distinguished faculty members engage in excellent teaching, research, scholarship, and public service… and most importantly, bring out the very best in their students.
Contact the Family Science Chair if you would like to learn how you can enrich the future of our Department by establishing an Endowed Chair.