The US Play Coalition is now accepting nominations for its annual Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research. This award is given annually in recognition of a body of exceptional research that has enhanced and expanded the study of play. The 2021 award winner will be honored during the 2021 Virtual Conference on the Value of Play: PLAY IS SURVIVAL .
The 2021 Play Research Award winner will receive a physical award, social media coverage and free full conference registration for the 2021 VIRTUAL Conference on the Value of Play*. Given that we are virtual this year, our 2021 Award Winner will ALSO receive free conference registration for our in-person 2022 Play Conference ! (Travel, lodging and other fees not included.)
*Note that registration fees will be refunded if the winner is already registered.
Deadline for 2021 Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research nominations is 12:00pm (noon) EST on March 26.
The inaugural Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research was presented to its namesake – Joe L. Frost, the contemporary father of play advocacy. “Joe Frost was an influencer for our organization’s work as well as for the world of play,” said Stephanie Garst, executive director of the U.S. Play Coalition. “The creation of this award was a fitting tribute.”
Frost is known across the world for his more than 30 years of work on early childhood and children’s play environments. Past president of both the Association for Childhood Education International and International Play Association/USA, he is the author or co-author of 18 books and numerous publications and has also served as a consultant for playgrounds worldwide.
Frost was influential in the creation of the U.S. Play Coalition, serving as a steering committee member since the coalition’s beginning in 2009. He served as a keynote speaker that year at the coalition’s first conference – then called the Summit on the Value of Play –and was honorary chair each year until 2019. Joe sadly passed away on February 17, 2020.
The 2020 Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research was presented to Stuart Brown, MD, Founder of the National Institute for Play
Trained in general and internal medicine, psychiatry and clinical research, Dr. Stuart Brown first recognized the importance of play by discovering its absence in the life stories of murders and felony drunken drivers. He is founder and president of the National Institute for Play. Dr. Brown’s book: Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul has been translated into twelve languages.
Upon learning he had won this year’s award named for his longtime colleague and friend, Dr. Brown said, “To be the recipient of an award named after my special friend Joe, and with the blessing of the Coalition is such an unexpected honor. Such affirmation warms my heart.”
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021 Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research.
Deadline for 2021 nominations is 12:00pm (noon) EST on March 26.
The 2021 Play Research Award winner will receive a physical award, social media coverage and free full conference registration for the 2021 VIRTUAL Conference on the Value of Play*. Given that we are virtual this year, our 2021 Award Winner will ALSO receive free conference registration for our in-person 2022 Play Conference ! (Travel, lodging and other fees not included.)
The Joe L. Frost Award for Distinguished Research
Purpose:
This is to be awarded annually in recognition of an individual’s body of exceptional research that has enhanced and expanded the study of play.
Evaluation Criteria:
The basis for selection will be the degree to which the nominee has achieved an exceptional research contribution as evidenced by publications, patents, citations, or other criteria deemed important by experts in the field. Outstanding research contributions can take a variety of forms including, but not limited to, theoretical advances, experimental results, development of programs and tools.
The Conference on the VALUE of Play
The Play Conference, as it is commonly known, is an annual educational conference presented by the US Play Coalition. The latest research and practices in the field of play are presented at the conference, which brings together play researchers, educators, health scientists, architects, landscape architects, designers, planners, park and recreation professionals, business and community leaders, psychologists, physicians and parents from across the U.S. and beyond. The 2021 Virtual Conference on the Value of Play: PLAY IS SURVIVAL explores play across the lifespan, play in the workplace, play in the classroom and address universal issues of access, equity, inclusion and more. The conference features weekly live headliners and networking events, dozens of recorded educational and research presentations and much more – all online from April 1 through June 30, 2021. We hope you will engage with us virtually in the interest of public health, wellness, safety and education!!!