Professor Arland Thornton received a prestigious Merit Award from NICHD in July 2001. The award is given to “selected investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity during their previous research endeavors. ” Dr. Thornton received this award for his new NICHD project entitled “Determinants of Marriage and Childbearing Attitudes”. The project will use the Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children, the National Survey of Families and Households, and the National Survey of Children to study how various aspects of the parental family and of the experiences of young people influence the young people’s attitudes and values toward marriage and childbearing.