CCF 2026 Awards for Outstanding Family Public Scholarship

The Council on Contemporary Families (CCF) is pleased to announce our 2026 Awards for Outstanding Family Public Scholarship.

These awards honor the outstanding contributions of our membership to the public understanding of contemporary family issues. The deadline for nominations is July 15th, 2026. See below for the specific 2026 awards.

This year’s awards will be presented at the Council on Contemporary Families Conference and Public Scholarship Workshop, to be held at the University of Utah on October 2nd, 2026. 

We are excited to honor the CCF members who work to increase public understanding of contemporary family issues. 

Awards

Early Career Award

• The Early Career Award recognizes an early-career scholar's contributions in the area of public scholarship. An early career is defined as 10 years or less from the date of Ph.D conferral. The primary criterion for this award is major intellectual contributions, theoretical or empirical, within the field of family research (broadly defined). Members of CCF whose scholarly work makes a significant contribution to the field of family research are eligible for this award.
• Submission: Letter of nomination no longer than 2 single-spaced pages, but may include links to material describing public scholarship efforts. Self-nominations encouraged.

Mid-Career Award

• The Mid-Career Award recognizes a mid-career scholar's contributions in the area of public scholarship. Mid-career is defined as 10 or more years after graduation with a Ph.D. The primary criterion for this award is major intellectual contributions, theoretical or empirical, within the field of family research (broadly defined). Members of CCF whose scholarly work over their career makes a significant contribution to the field of family research are eligible for this award. 

• Submission: Letter of nomination no longer than 2 single-spaced pages, but may include links to material describing public scholarship efforts. Self-nominations encouraged.

Graduate Student Public Scholar Award

• The Graduate Student Public Scholar Award recognizes contributions to public scholarship (broadly defined) by graduate students. Pieces authored or coauthored solely by students are eligible; faculty co-authorship is not allowed. Eligible student authors include master’s and pre-doctoral student members of CCF who are currently enrolled in a graduate program, or who have graduated no earlier than December of the preceding award year. The contribution should have appeared within the past two calendar years (e.g., a submission nominated in 2026 may have been published anytime in 2024 or later).
• Submission: Letter of nomination no longer than 2 single-spaced pages, but may include links to material describing public scholarship efforts. Self-nominations encouraged.

Public Scholarship Award

• The Public Scholarship Award is granted to the CCF member or group of members who have made exemplary contributions to advance the public understanding of family research (broadly defined) and scholarship among the general public through contributions to non-academic publications. The contribution(s) should have appeared within the past two calendar years (e.g., a submission nominated in 2026 may have been published anytime in 2024 or later).
• Submission: Letter of nomination no longer than 2 single-spaced pages, but may include links to material describing public scholarship efforts. Self-nominations encouraged.

Nomination and Submission Procedure

CCF members are encouraged to submit self-nominations or nominations of other members. To nominate, please complete the following form:

CCF 2026 Media Awards for Outstanding Family Public Scholarship Nomination Form

Letters of nomination should be no longer than 2 single-spaced pages, but may include links to material describing public scholarship efforts. 

Deadline for Nominations

Nominations must be received by July 15th, 2026, at 11:59 PM MDT.

Winners will be notified in September 2026. Awards will be presented at the Council on Contemporary Families Conference and Public Scholarship Workshop at the University of Utah on October 2nd, 2026. Winners are invited to accept their awards in person.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!