Education Kansas State University | ||
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Born June 17, 1956 (age 60) ( 1956-06-17 ) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Occupation Author, Researcher, Lecturer | ||
Michael A. O'Donnell (born June 17, 1956, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is a best-selling author, researcher, and international lecturer with a Ph.D. from Kansas State University and is best known for his Adolescent Wellness Research Project, co-conducted with family strengths scholar Nick Stinnett, Ph.D., a professor with the University of Alabama. Their research on Adolescent Wellness was published in the book Good Kids (Doubleday 1995) and was presented before the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, in 1995. The United Nations also published their research in the UN Directory of International Year of the Family Research Projects in the summer of 1995.
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The International Family Life Institute
In the late 1980s, O'Donnell—an Assistant Professor of Family Studies, Dean of Professional Studies with Faulkner University, and Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE)—and Stinnett co-founded The International Family Life Institute, Inc., Montgomery, AL, which helped pioneer the first B.S. degree completion program in Family Life Education on the campus of Spring Arbor University, Mich., leading to certification for professionals as Certified Family Life Educators (CFLE) through the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). The Institute was a for-profit enterprise offering assistance in curriculum development, prevention-through-education seminars, and research and writing projects in the area of family and consumer science and practice.
Southwest Center for Fathering
In the early 1990s, O'Donnell was also an Associate (undergraduate & graduate) Professor of Family Studies and the Founding Executive Director of the Southwest Center for Fathering on the campus of Abilene Christian University—the first university-based center for fathering in the United States—and has been featured for his work in the area of fathering in The Chronicle of Higher Education. O'Donnell was personally responsible for training over 400 certified fathering small group leaders in the U.S. and overseas. He is also "the inspiration" for the development of the Centre for Fathering in Singapore, which was the first recipient of the Volunteer Development Grant, initiated by the Prime Minister of Singapore in 2000. Also, the Center for Fathers and Families in Sacramento, Calif., was formed after attendees returned from a seminar held by O'Donnell at Abilene Christian University. O'Donnell was also invited to be an original signer of A Call to Fatherhood published in 1997 by the Center of the American Experiment, The National Fatherhood Initiative, and the Institute for American Values; which was presented at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In 1992 O'Donnell was invited to conduct a Fathering Certification Seminar at the U. S. Naval Base, Naples, Italy. And, in 1991 the Southwest Center for Fathering was awarded a $17,000 training grant from the Texas Department of Human Services to educate and train their employees in leading fathering support groups for their Foster Care programs.
Author
In the mid-to-late 1990s, O'Donnell—then a (full) Professor of Family Studies and Department Chair of Psychology & Behavioral Sciences with Rochester College in Mich.—had authored or co-authored eight books, including: Home from Oz (Thomas Nelson & Word 1994), A Question of Honor (Harper Collins & Zondervan 1995), and How A Man Prepares His Sons for Life (Baker Publishing Group & Bethany House 1995)—which was nominated for both the Christianity Today and Gold Medallion book awards. A best-selling author, these books have been the focus of numerous radio, TV and print features such as in USA Today, Better Homes and Gardens and Jet magazines; 60 Minutes, CBS Interactive Business Network, CNN and the PBS nationally syndicated radio program To the Best of Our Knowledge. He was also invited to be a contributing scholar to the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Social Issues published by Cavendish Corporation in association with Salem Press and Initiatives for Families for the National Council on Family Relations.
Personal life
He is the identical twin brother of award-winning playwright Richard O'Donnell.
Academic and popular books
Awards and honors
Some honors and awards include: In 1941 the Arkansas General Assembly created the Arkansas Traveler Certificate to honor out-of-state visitors, presenting the first one to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and so, in 1992 then-Governor President Bill Clinton appointed Dr. Michael O'Donnell as an "Arkansas Traveler"; he also has had induction into Kappa Omicron Nu Family and Consumer Sciences Honor Society (1991); inducted into Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society (1997); selected as the Coons-Farrar Lecturer for Harding University (1992); selected as the President B. Garrison Lecturer for Henderson State University (1993); a Fine Arts Lecturer on Fathering and the Media for Lander University (1994); selected as the Dr. Bruce Everist Endowed Lecturer for Louisiana Tech University (1997).
O'Donnell was also invited to be an original signer of A Call to Fatherhood published in 1997 by the Center of the American Experiment, The National Fatherhood Initiative, and the Institute for American Values; which was presented at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
He was also nominated for both the 1997 Gold Medallion and Christianity Today book awards; and he was invited in 2002 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to be the keynote speaker of Singapore’s National Week of the Family.
In 2012, he was selected as a Catholic Press Association Award-Winner for his monthly column, Family Matters in The Colorado Catholic Herald, Editor-in-Chief, Bill Howard (journalist).
In 2013, he was awarded, together with his communications team and Atomic Film Makers, at Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs, a national Telly Award for their video promotion of the Marian House (Soup Kitchen)--it was awarded to them from among 12,000 entrants, including Universal Studios, HBO, Showtime and Warner Brothers.