Dr. Charles D. Johnson, adjunct professor at Texas A&M University at Qatar, was named a Fellow by the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development (DIIFSD). Johnson is the Director of the Center for Community Support, a center within the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and also serves as director of the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University. As part of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the DIIFSD is among the premier international research centers examining the legal, sociological and scientific basis of the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society.
The title and award were conferred by H.E. Abdullah Al-Khalifa, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and chairman of the DIIFSD board of governors. Secretary General Al-Khalifa said he was pleased to recognize Dr. Johnson’s scholarship and commitment to the traditional family. "We look forward to a long and productive relationship with Charles Johnson and Texas A&M at Qatar," HE Al-Khalifa said. The appointment as Doha Fellow is the highest honor offered by the DIIFSD and carries a $25,000 annual stipend, said Dr. Hassan Hammoud, the Institute’s director of research. Hammoud also lauded Johnson’s work on the Global Family Matters Information System (FAMIS), and the Global State of the Family Index. "Working in close collaboration with the DIIFSD Research group, Charles Johnson has made a great contribution to global research on the family," Hammoud said.
The Center for Community Support (CCS) provides a broad range of no-cost grant-writing services for Texas communities. Support is available to pursue funding for programs designed to improve the quality of life and promote safe and healthy lifestyles among the citizens of the state. The Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) is a social policy research organization that has provided legislators and agency decision makers with scientific research and evaluative services for more than 20 years. Johnson has served on national review panels for U.S. Health and Human Services, testified before the U.S. Congress, served as an expert member on the U.S. Family Preservation Act Planning Committee, and has presented his research at the United Nations. Further, Johnson was a recent recipient of the esteemed career achievement Bush Excellence Award for Faculty in Public Service presented by President George H.W. Bush, and was Texas A&M University’s inaugural Regents Professor, the highest distinction conferred by the University’s board of regents. Dr. Mark Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, said he is pleased to have Johnson among the University’s faculty in Qatar and that he appreciated the comments offered by Al-Khalifa and Hammoud. "This is but one example of the strong working relationships between Qatar Foundation, Texas A&M at Qatar, and the nation as a whole," he said.