Featured Scholar:
Deborah Ader

2000 - 2001 University Scholar
 Mentor: Jennifer L. Woolard
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Deborah Ader

Deborah Ader explored a wide range of interests before finding her passion in child advocacy law. A senior criminology major, at one time Ader hoped for a career in theater, and she concentrated on that when she entered the Palm Beach County School of the Arts. "But alas," Ader jokes, "I don't have enough singing talent, and all my school wanted to perform were musicals."

Ader switched her concentration to communication arts and became active in radio and broadcasting. "My high school had a lot to offer; there were five different areas of art, and just over 100 students in my class, so we had a lot of unique opportunities," she says. Ader worked as a co-producer for a West Palm Beach AM talk radio host, then became involved in promotions at several FM stations. During her freshman year at UF, Ader even worked as a disc jockey at a local rock station.

However, it was her participation on the School of the Arts' Speech and Debate team that confirmed Ader's interest in the law. "I've always been interested in law and social policy, even in high school," she says. "I was a very politically aware teen." Ader won the district championship in oral interpretation her senior year and competed in the national tournament in Chicago. By her junior year at UF, the idea of a career in law seemed like a natural choice.

Ader focused on child advocacy after taking "Children, Family, and the Law" with Jen Woolard (Criminology). "That became my passion. I fell in love with the subject matter and became a research assistant for Dr. Woolard that semester," Ader says. She began working with Woolard on a study that examines the competence and decision-making abilities of children, and Ader designed her University Scholars Program research to supplement this work. "Dr. Woolard has been surveying juvenile defendants," she says. "My research looks at the attorney's perspectives and attitudes towards these kids."

Ader has been accepted to several law schools and plans to train for work as a public defender. "Eventually, I might also like to become a prosecutor," she says. "I want to keep working with child advocacy. I want to influence state and national policy on family issues."

Photo by John Elderkin

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Journal of Undergraduate Research
Volume 1, Issue 7 - April 2000
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