Faculty

Barb Hiltz is a clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Hiltz is a licensed social worker (LMSW) and also holds a EdM in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership with a focus on diversity and equity in education. Hiltz’s work focuses on the sustainability of community-based organizations, including the role of innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in shaping social service delivery. Other areas of expertise include leadership, human resource management, fund and program development, and fiscal management.

Professor Joseph Himle's research interests focus on mental health intervention research with adults and youth. Himle's current intervention projects include mental health intervention trials focused on bringing cognitive behavioral therapy to underserved populations. He has been the Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, or Mentor on a total of 20 research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health in addition to receiving funding from a range of other sources.

Justin Hodge is a Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan. He is the co-lead for the Policy & Political Social Work Pathway and the director of the Online Certificate in Political Social Work. Hodge is committed to increasing the presence of social workers in policy and political spaces. He teaches courses that provide students with the tools to engage in politics and approach policy work from a social justice perspective.

Greg Hoffman, MSW, is a lecturer, community organizer, and program evaluator based in Metro Detroit. He has worked as a community organizer in Detroit for more than a decade, helping to develop sustainable community organizations. In addition to teaching in the MSW Program, Hoffman works as a consultant for Mission Lift, a BIPOC-owned and operated consulting firm that has served Metro Detroit for more than 20 years. Hoffman’s consulting work focuses on program evaluation, grant writing and organizational development for various non-profits in Metro Detroit.

Leslie Hollingsworth retired on 5/31/2016. Her research interests have focused on circumstances surrounding the lives of vulnerable children and families across the child welfare and mental health systems and their implications for social work practice and policy. Her adoption-related research examined perspectives and experiences of members of the adoption triad - adopted individuals, adoptive parents, and birth parents. She also evaluated the effects of Africentric curricular content on students’ knowledge, values, and skills in interpersonal practice with African American families.

Professor Berit Ingersoll-Dayton is interested in social support and clinical research with respect to families in later life. Within the area of social support, she focused on positive and negative aspects of support, gender differences, issues of equity and reciprocity, and cross-cultural differences in marital and intergenerational relationships. In relation to clinical research, she has assessed various group interventions with the elderly, intergenerational family therapy approaches, and methods of assisting employed caregivers of the elderly.

Talia Ingham joined the School of Social Work Office of Field Education field office as a Field Faulty in 2025 after beginning with the office as an administrator in 2018, continuing as a work study while completing the MSW program, and later moving into the placement coordinator role in 2023. Ingham has provided direct service work as a therapist in a private practice setting as well as through Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County's counseling and home visiting parenting program.

Kathryn Irish, PhD, LMSW, CAADC, has 10+ years of clinical practice experience across a diverse range of settings including community mental health, private practice and methadone maintenance. She has also worked as a clinician for the U.S. Federal Criminal Justice System and held administrative roles in managed health care as a senior clinical-quality consultant. Irish has a clinical specialization in alcohol and drug treatment (CAADC). She recently completed her PhD in social work at Michigan State University with a doctoral cognate in neuroscience.

Vance K. Jackson, Jr., MSW ’06, is the founder and CEO of NEXX Consulting Group, LLC, a multifaceted advisory firm delivering fund development, executive advisory and organizational strategy solutions across corporate, community, municipal and philanthropic sectors.

Professor Emeritus Siri Jayaratne has been studying the effects of work stress on the health and well-being of social workers since 1979, and is currently working with colleagues analyzing data from a longitudinal study of child welfare workers. His program of research has included four national surveys of social workers, as well as a study of social workers and their spouses. Jayaratne is also exploring aspects of client violence towards social workers in the workplace. Other areas of research/scholarly interest: social work practice; practice evaluation; program evaluation.