Dr. Lisa Edwards, assistant professor of counseling and educational psychology and resident of Milwaukee, was one of four junior faculty members honored with the 2008 Young Scholar Award by Marquette University's Helen Way Klingler College of Arts & Sciences at the Annual Distinguished Scholars Reception. The awards of up to $32,000 are intended to fund $2,000 in operating costs and cover up to 50 percent of salary to afford the recipient a one-semester sabbatical.

Edwards, who earned her Ph.D. at the University of Kansas, focuses her research on multicultural counseling, strengths and positive functioning, Latino/a psychology, and biracial and multiracial identity. She is currently studying the well-being of ethnically diverse individuals, particularly Latino/a youth. The field of psychology has tended to focus on Latino/a juvenile delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse and low educational attainment, according to Edwards. She is interested in providing a more balanced understanding of the strengths Latino/a youth possess, how they experience well-being and how to nurture strengths to give them the best opportunity to succeed.

"Thanks to the time afforded by the Young Scholars Award, next year I plan to further explore the influence of cultural strengths such as family and religion on the prevention of early sexual behavior among Latino/a youth," said Edwards. "My research ties very closely to the social justice emphasis inherent in the Jesuit tradition at Marquette."

"The recipients of the Way Klingler Young Scholar Awards were selected because of their contributions to research and their potential for outstanding future research," said Dr. William Wiener, vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school.

Source: marquette.edu