Beth Neil, University of Massachusetts Amherst, EUA

Elsbeth (Beth) Neil (BSc Psychology; MA Social Work; PhD) is the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she began directing the Rudd Research Program in July 2025. Previously, she worked at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. Over her 30-year academic career, Beth has led numerous studies on adoption, focusing on the experiences of adopted children and adults, birth relatives, and adoptive parents. Her research includes an 18-year longitudinal study on post-adoption contact and work on life story narratives of adopted individuals who are now parents, and adoptive parents who have become grandparents. A qualified social worker, although no longer in practice, Beth collaborates with practitioners and those with lived experience to apply research in practice. She helped develop an attachment-based framework for transitions from foster care to adoption (https://www.movingtoadoption.co.uk/) and led a team collaborating with Adoption England to galvanise changes in professional culture and practice around openness in adoption in England. In 2025, she received UEA’s Chancellor’s Prize for her impactful work supporting post-adoption contact and professional development.