Phyllis Gyamfi, doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology and a Research Fellow at the Center for Young Children and Families, was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship, which funds dissertation work. Gyamfi was one of 15 recipients to received the prestigious award.

The fellowship will support Gyamfi's dissertation, "When Welfare Dependent Women Become Employed: Implications for Single Black Mothers and Their Children."

The dissertation will examine mothers who have made the transition from welfare to work, as well as how these transitions are associated with child well-being.

Gyamfi has a strong record of researching issues relating to the employment of single black mothers and parental stress. Last year she received the Outstanding Research Award from the Society for Social Work and Research for a paper on the psychological well-being of single black mothers, that she co-authored with Professor Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Dr. Aurora P. Jackson of the Columbia School of Social Work, and Mandy Blake, a research assistant of Dr. Jackson's.

Published Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2001