White named finalist for early career researcher program

Rebecca M. B. White, assistant professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, has been named one of 10 finalists for the William T. Grant Scholars Program of early career researchers.  

Other finalists were named from institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Virginia, Albert Einstein School of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Boston University. Selected scholars will each receive $350,000 over five years and participate in annual meetings. Four to six scholars will be announced in March.

“I am sincerely honored to represent ASU and the Sanford School as a Scholars Program finalist. I’ve received great support from the university and my school and I am eager to make the most of that support when I interview at the foundation in February,” White said.  

Applicants for the Scholars Program propose five-year research and mentoring plans designed to expand their skills and knowledge in a new discipline, content area or method.

White’s research focuses on collaboratively studying how neighborhoods influence family processes and adolescent development among Mexican Americans.

“I aspire to inform the next generation of neighborhood scholarship, one that is relevant for diverse populations, starting with Mexican-origin families and youth right here in the Southwest,” White said.

Her proposal includes mentorship components that will enable her to expand her methodological tool kit, gain access to additional expertise and remove traditional disciplinary boundaries among neighborhood and cultural researchers. She anticipates providing relevant research that informs the development of family and youth programs.

“At the neighborhood level, I anticipate that the work will have implications for U.S. public health and housing policy by informing culturally sensitive solutions to residential segregation,” she said.  

The Scholars Program began in 1982 and has a history of supporting the development of early-career researchers in the social, behavioral and health sciences.  

The T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics is an academic unit if the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.