Dr. Amy L. Ai, a professor at the FSU College of Social Work, was inducted in late 2020 into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW). The academy is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in social work and social welfare through high impact work that advances social sciences and societal good.

Dr. Ai’s interdisciplinary research has focused on trauma and growth, physical and behavioral health, aging, health disparities, positive psychology and spirituality. She is an affiliated faculty member with the FSU College of Medicine, FSU College of Nursing and FSU Institute for Successful Longevity. She earned three master’s degrees and a joint doctoral degree at the University of Michigan and post-doctoral training with the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Ai is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association of Psychological Science, and the Gerontological Society of America. She served as a Delegate/Representative of Academic Settings to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging and is both a Fulbright Scholar and John A. Hartford Geriatric Faculty Scholar.

Dr. Ai has also been a principal investigator/co-principal investigator on more than $2.5 million in grants, funded by federal, state, and private foundations. She is a scientific grant reviewer for national, international, and private funding agencies (examples include: Departments of State, Defense, and Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute, and major agencies in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong/China).

She has authored two books (one peer-reviewed), 118 peer-reviewed articles, and 32 book chapters. Dr. Ai has also received the Outstanding Science Award from the American Psychological Association Trauma Psychology – Division 56 and the Distinguished Health Psychology Award by the International Association of Applied Psychology.

Dr. Ai and co-authors most recently published the peer-reviewed book Assessing Spirituality in a Diverse World in 2020 with Springer. The book addresses the challenges in social science research on assessing diverse religions and spirituality (R/S) aligned with the globalization-related new trends and existential challenges due to exponentially increased disasters worldwide, such as the current pandemic. Dr. Ai and her co-authors examine this question by bringing together theory-driven and evidence-based inquiries of international scholars across disciplines including psychology, sociology, social work, religious studies, philosophy, public health, and medicine. The publication's goal is to promote interdisciplinary and cross-cultural studies to examine humankind's existential issues further and facilitate culturally appropriate practices in multiple disciplines and professions.
 

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