Alumni Office News

Elizabeth Rhodes (PhD Social Work and Political Science ‘16) was formally announced as the lead researcher for the Basic Income study at Y Combinator Research in San Francisco. Her media coverage includes:

• cited in the Tech Insider article, "Silicon Valley's biggest startup accelerator just announced the leader of its groundbreaking basic income experiment"
• cited in the CNNMoney article, "Why some Oakland residents won't have to worry about rent"
• cited in the Fortune article, "Y Combinator Wants to Test a Revolutionary Economic Idea"
• cited in the TechCrunch article, "Y Combinator announces basic income pilot experiment in Oakland"
• cited in the Mic article, "Basic Income in California: 100 Oakland Residents Will Get a Salary Just for Being Alive"

Larry E. Davis, MSW'73, PhD'77, authored the book, "Why Are They Angry With Us? Essays on Race." Davis is dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor. He is the director and founder of the Center on Race and Social Problems, which conducts applied social science research on race, ethnicity, and color. Drawing on both his personal and professional experiences, Davis attacks the core of many commonly held attitudes which contribute to racism in America. He received the 2014 SSW Distinguished Alumni Award and is a member of the  Dean's Advisory Committee.
 

Three School of Social Work alumni were presented Distinguished Alumni Awards at the SSW All Class Reunion Lunch on Friday, October 9, 2015. 

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes School of Social Work alumni whose achievements exemplify the values of the School of Social Work and who have made an exceptional impact on the profession, the community and/or Social Work education.

Laura Sundstrom, MSW, Evaluation Associate with the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, was invited to speak at the Western Michigan Univerity Evaluation Center's Evaluation Cafe speaker series on September 30, 2015 for doctoral students, faculty, and staff.  The Evaluation Center administers the interdisciplinary Ph.D. in evaluation program and provides evaluation, research, and capacity-building services to a University, public, community-based, national, and international organizations to assist them in assessing and improving their programs.

Ms. Sundstrom's presentation, "Using Systems Thinking in Your Evaluations: How Separate Evaluation Projects Can Strengthen Eachother," focused on how to apply systems thinking principles to enhance the relevance and use of findings for evaluation consumers.

Irene Ng (PhD’06, social work and economics) is the first director of the National University of Singapore's new Social Service Research Centre. In addition to this position, she is also an associate professor of social work in the Department of Social Work at the National University of Singapore.

Yolanda Chávez Padilla (PhD’93) has accepted the position as director of the Council on Social Work Education Center for Diversity and Social and Economic Justice. Dr. Padilla will have a joint appointment with the CSWE and with the School of Social Work at University of Texas at Austin.

Karen Lincoln's blog, "The Economic Arguments for More Aid to the Elderly Poor" was published in the Wall Street Journal.

Stephanie Chang (MSW’14) kicked off her notable first term in the Michigan House of Representatives this past week, as she is the first Asian-American woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. Her current endeavors are featured in The Michigan Daily.