The Frank P. Forwood Award for Academic Excellence in Presented Research was created by the Association for the Scientific Study of Religion--Southwest at the 2008 meeting of the ASSR-SW as part of the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies.  The Award was created to honor the service and dedication of Frank P. Forwood, a founding member and long-time program chair of the ASSR-SW.  He was a Professor of Sociology and Religion at Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana--Monroe) for more than thirty years.  Dr. Forwood passed away in 2007 and the Award commemorates his memory, honoring his career service to the ASSR-SW and SWCRS and his many contributions to the study of religion in society.

The ASSR-SW is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2008 Frank P. Forwood Award is:

Professor J. B. Watson

Stephen F. Austin State University

for his paper entitled

Jesus at Starbucks: The Melding of the Sacred and Profane in U.S. Evangelical Religious Practices. 

Dr. Watson is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the William J. Brophy Academic Enrichment Center at Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.  He serves as Vice-President (Membership) for ASSR--SW.  His research interests include trends among evangelicals, consumer religion, service-learning in higher education, the Sociology of Disasters, Texas freedmen communities, and Rural Sociology. 

Coincidentially, following the Award selection process, it was discovered that Dr. Watson happens to be a former student of Professor Forwood.

Congratulations to Dr. J. B. Watson (click certificate to view in full size)