University of Minnesota Alum Ashley Landers Lace won the best dissertation award at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s 2017 annual conference. This award is given by the AAMFT Research & Education Foundation to recognize scholarly achievement by recent graduates whose research study related to couples and family therapy or family therapy training.

Lace, an assistant professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State College (Virginia Tech or VPI), graduated with a Ph.D. in Family Social Science in 2016. During her U of M academic career, she was honored with a President’s Student Leadership and Service Award, a M. Janice Hogan Fellowship, a Family Process Institute’s New Writers Fellowship, and a Waller Summer Fellowship (twice), as well as a AAMFT Graduate Student Research Award from American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Her peer-reviewed presentations included national and regional conferences on child welfare, the impact of trauma on relationships, and diversity. Following graduation she served a post doc at the University of Calgary.