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Dr. Debra L. Berke of Wilmington University Honored For Family Life Leadership
Decades of service in strengthening families led to her award from the National Council on Family Relations.
Debra L. Berke, Ph.D., CFLE, director of psychology programs at Wilmington University's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has been honored with the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Affiliate Meritorious Service Award for her decades of service in strengthening families.
She received the award, which recognizes NCFR's members and leaders for their work with local and regional chapters, at the organization's annual conference on November 3, 2016, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of NCFR since joining as a graduate student 30 years ago, Berke also delivered two presentations at the conference.
In a letter nominating Berke for the award, Raeann R. Hamon, Ph.D., CFLE, described the key role she's played in the family research organization. "Dr. Berke's commitment to the National Council on Family Relations and its affiliated councils is unwavering," said Hamon, who chairs the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.
As colleagues at Messiah in the 1990s, Hamon and Berke rebuilt and revived the Pennsylvania/Delaware Council on Family Relations, served as the local chapter's president and vice president respectively for four years and expanded it into the Mid-Atlantic Council on Family Relations following its inclusion of Maryland-based members. The two certified family life educators continue to serve on the Mid-Atlantic chapter's board and conference planning committee. The Messiah College Council on Family Relations that they founded as a student chapter is still active.
In the e-mail notifying Berke of her award, Allison Wickler, NCFR's director of membership and marketing, remarked, "There was no doubt that your commitment to NCFR and the multiple student and state affiliates that you've helped to establish and strengthen over the years embodies the spirit of the Meritorious Service Award. All the reviewers agreed that you are an incredibly deserving candidate."
The National Council on Family Relations was established in 1938 as a non-partisan, nonprofit group that brings together educators, researchers social workers, health professionals, counselors, clergy members, policy analysts and students and other observers from across the country and around the world in the name of family-centered education and intervention.
The NCFR's local and regional affiliates provide forums in which members can exchange ideas and experiences with other family professionals in the area with an eye on strengthening marriages and family relationships.
"Families live out their day-to-day lives in a local context," said Berke, who recently launched a master's degree program in Applied Family Science at Wilmington University. "I am grateful to be recognized as a leader at the local level by my peers, and to have contributed to the health and well-being of individuals and families in the mid-Atlantic region through creating and facilitating professional development opportunities for family science professionals."
"This award speaks to Dr. Berke's high level of commitment and her leadership within her chosen profession," said Jim Wilson, Ed.D., Wilmington University's vice president for academic affairs. "Such commitment has a positive impact upon our students and their learning in the classroom, which is manifested in homes and organizations throughout the community and region in many ways.
"I believe this attribute is at the very heart of every effective teacher," Wilson said. "Dr. Berke is to be congratulated for this recognition by her professional peers as well as the University."
Recipients of the NCFR's Affiliate Meritorious Service Award have served at least three years of continuous involvement, as well as at least one term as board member or officer, in their state or regional chapters. Those who are university faculty members have mentored students through research projects presented at state or regional conferences, or have helped to create or sponsor a student chapter of NCFR.
About Wilmington University
Wilmington University is a private, nonprofit institution committed to providing flexible, career-oriented, traditional and online associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs. Ranked as the second fastest growing nonprofit doctoral institution in America 2004 – 2014 by The Almanac of The Chronicle of Higher Education, affordable tuition, academic excellence and individualized attention are hallmarks of the University that enable greater student success in their chosen careers. For more information, contact Wilmington University at 302-356-INFO (4636), via email at infocenter@wilmu.edu, or visit our website: www.wilmu.edu.