Velma McBride Murry, the Lois Autrey Betts Professor of Education and Human Development and the University Distinguished Professor of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, is this year’s recipient of the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology from the American Psychological Association. The annual award honors psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances in psychology leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems.
In her research, Dr. Murry investigates how social stressors shape the everyday life experiences, development, and well-being of African American youth and their families, especially in rural and under-resourced communities. She has designed and implemented two family-based preventive intervention programs: the Strong African American Families program and the Pathways for African American Success program. Both of Dr. Murry’s initiatives have demonstrated efficacy in the enhancement of parenting and family processes, as well as youth’s interpersonal protective processes that, in turn, dissuaded youth from engaging in health compromising behaviors. Her work has received more than 16,000 citations, with over 4,400 of those citations recorded in the past five years.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Dr. Murry received her master’s degree and her Ph.D. in human development and family studies from the University of Missouri. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2008, Dr. Murry was a tenured professor at the University of Georgia.