CYAF's Xia selected for national mentoring award


Yan Ruth Xia (right) receives the Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations Nov. 17 in Orlando. The award was presented by Lyndal Khaw (left), a NCFR Board member.

CYAF's Xia selected for national mentoring award

28 Nov 2017     By Kari Eller

Yan Ruth Xia, professor of Child, Youth and Family Studies, has received the Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring. Annually awarded by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), this national award recognizes mentors who exceed classroom teaching expectations to support undergraduate and graduate students, mentor junior colleagues, and provide opportunities for continued professional development in the family field. 

A Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), Xia teaches various courses in the family sciences: immigrant youth behavioral and mental health, parent-adolescent communication and relationship, strengths and stress among Asian immigrant families, adolescent substance abuse, program evaluation and Chinese adolescent social competence. Over the years, she has dedicated her research to improving family relationships, policies and programs and her work has led her to publish a book, titled “Chinese Adolescents in Social Transition.” 

Richard Bischoff, CYAF department chair, shares that Xia, “has an uncanny ability to bring out the best in students” and with this gift, she supervises student research in the program areas of Global Family Health and Wellbeing, International Family Studies, and Youth Development. Cultivating an academic environment of excellence, Xia’s work and dedication to her students and colleagues has drawn the attention of many individuals at Nebraska and now, of nearly 3,000 NCFR family researchers, practitioners and educators. Making a difference at Nebraska, Xia encourages all to reach their full potential and her example empowers others to do the same. She will be recognized for her achievement at the 2017 NCFR Annual Conference, Nov. 15-18 in Orlando, Florida.

For more information on the Felix Berardo Scholarship Award, visit http://go.unl.edu/iioq.


College of Education and Human Sciences
Child, Youth and Family Studies