Ruth McRoy, Ph.D., is the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor Emerita at Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She has been a strong contributor to the field of child welfare for more than three decades, through a wide array of endeavors, from research and writing to teaching and mentoring. Her research focuses on the influence of race in adoptions, racial disparities in the child welfare system, openness in adoption, adoption matching, and family preservation. She conducted the first in-depth longitudinal study assessing the personal and institutional factors that result in prospective adoptive parents navigating their way through the adoption process.