2011 BoHS Awards

The BoHS Awards recognizes talented professors, deans, and nationally recognized leaders who have either demonstrated scholarship in the development and application of outreach and extension; extensively promoted and advanced human sciences in higher education; or made significant contributions in developing the next generation of science scholars.

“The Board on Human Sciences Awards recognizes outstanding members of our higher education community who have made substantial contributions to our field,” said Billie Collier, dean and
professor of textiles and consumer sciences in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University and BoHS chair. “BoHS members are proud to recognize the important contributions of four scholars who have made a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities.”

Penny A. Ralston, professor, dean emeritus and director of the Center on Better Health and Life for Underserved Populations at Florida State University, has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for promoting and advancing human sciences in higher education. Ralston is a recognized leader in the human sciences and has promoted and advanced the field in higher education as an administrator and as a scholar. During her 14-year tenure as dean of the College of Human Sciences, enrollment more than tripled, faculty received 35 awards for teaching and research and generated close to $2 million in new contract and grant awards annually, $18M was raised in two capital campaigns, and a $5.3 million building renovation was completed. She also developed mentoring programs for students from diverse backgrounds to foster their professional development. As a scholar, her work has focused on program development, including the community-based health programs for adults. She is currently the principal investigator of a $1.75 million National Institutes of Health grant to reduce
cardiovascular disease in African Americans. She is the author of over 60 refereed articles, abstracts, book chapters and reviews.

Mary McPhail Gray has received the Ellen Swallow Richards Public Service Award for dedication to improving the quality of life of individuals, families and communities. Gray is currently the president of McPhail Consulting Services, LLC in Taos, NM. She previously served as deputy administrator for Families, 4-H and Nutrition and special assistant for nutrition education for the administrator of the Economic Research Service at the United States Department of Agriculture. Gray is the former dean of human ecology and associate director of Cooperative Extension at Kansas State University as well as the Cooperative Extension county educator in Oswego, NY for Cornell University. Gray helped initiating the first census of homeless children in Missouri and implemented a number of programs to help low-income families. She is the co-author of the college textbook Knowing and Serving Diverse Families (Prentice Hall), which emphasizes the need for diversity and inclusiveness as we understand the world.

The recipient of the Outstanding Engagement Award is Elizabeth (Bettie Ann) Carroll for exceptional creativity and scholarship in the development, application and evaluation of outreach,
extension and public service programs. Carroll has been on the faculty of the department of child development and family relations in the College of Human Ecology at East Carolina University for 15 years. Since 2004, she has worked to improve the lives of military families through the Citizen Soldier
Support Program. The project focused on building and maintaining resilience of National Guard and Reserve families. With a $3.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Carroll developed The Healthy Marriage Initiative to help strengthen marriages and couple relationships by providing an engaging, evidence and skills-based curriculum that strengthens our Citizen Soldier families.

Matthew Hickey, professor in the department of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, will receive the Undergraduate Research Mentor Award for exceptional performance as a research mentor for undergraduate students. A CSU faculty member since 1997, Hickey also holds joint appointments in the departments of food science and human nutrition and biomedical sciences. For the past 13 years, Hickey has led a very active research program as director of the Human Performance Clinical Research Laboratory at CSU, a premier interdisciplinary research facility where he has regularly mentored undergraduate student research. In 2010, he received the CSU Board of
Governors’ award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education.

BoHS advances the intellectual integrity, stature and centrality of human sciences at A۰P۰L۰U-member institutions by supporting the development and stewardship of academic excellence in human
sciences; advocating for visibility and leveraging resources to support human sciences’ discovery, learning, and outreach engagement programs; and educating leaders regarding the capacity of the human sciences to solve problems. The board is chaired by Billie J. Collier, dean of the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University.