Career Achievement Award

2022 Recipient:

Sandra Stith

Sandra Stith is an internationally known expert on understanding and treating intimate partner violence. She is known for her work with the U.S. Air Force, working with the U.S. Military Family Advocacy Programs where she managed and conducted a variety of family violence-related research projects, including a project to develop and test a risk assessment measure for partner violence. This program is now used worldwide through the Department of Defense. Over the span of her career, Stith served as a principle investigator for over $20 million is external grants.

Sith published her first book, ‘Couples Treatment for Domestic Violence: Finding Safe Solutions”, in 2011. Before retiring, she has edited seven books and has authored or co-authored over 150 articles and book chapters.

She has been an active member of numerous national organizations related to marriage and family therapy, serving as a board member for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the National Council on Family Relations, and the American Family Therapy Academy.

Along with being a highly sought out presenter on the topic of couples treatment for domestic violence both nationally and internationally, Sith’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the American Family Therapy Academy’s Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research Award, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s Outstanding Contribution to Marriage and Family Therapy Award, and in 2013, she was named a Fellow for the National Council on Family Relations

Sith joined the K-State couple and family therapy program in 2007, serving as the Virginia Mowrey McAninch professor and director of the couple and family therapy program. In 2014, Sith was named a university distinguished professor, a lifetime title and the highest honor K-State bestows on its faculty members.