Faculty News

On Wednesday, Detroit teachers voted to authorize a “safety strike,” should their concerns about protective equipment and protocols not be met.  Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo spoke with the Detroit Free Press about the potential legal consequences and public reaction. "No one knows about the exact risks" of COVID-19, Zullo said. "I don't think it'd be unreasonable and my guess is that the public would be on the teachers' side."

Jaclynn Hawkins and Jamie Mitchell have each received loan repayment awards for their continued commitment to engage in health-disparities research. The awards are from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities whose loan repayment programs were established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. Hawkins is an assistant professor and leads the Diabetes in Men's Health Lab. Mitchell is an assistant professor and is a co-director of the Co-investigator of the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research.

Roland Zullo’s paper “Explaining Privatization Failure: The Vice of Sweet Carrots and Hard Sticks” has been selected by the editorial board of the Review of Radical Political Economics as winner of the Annual Best Paper Award.  The paper explains why private contracting underperforms in the production of public services.

Clinical Assistant Professor Justin Hodge, MSW ‘13, won the Democratic primary for Washtenaw County Commissioner, 5th District; he’ll advance to face the Republican candidate in the November election.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work Abigail Eiler was appointed to the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition. The coalition will encourage, educate and empower student-athletes and will develop tangible and actionable efforts in a collective manner and provide viable solutions addressing the issues of hate and racism in our society.

Professor Karla Goldman’s article in Forward discusses how the economic disruptions of the coronavirus add to the woes that have been threatening the viability of the historic institutions and programs that support Reform Judaism.

Professor Luke Shaefer has been named a 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow.  The two-year award provides $200,000 in support of his project, “Deepening Our Understanding of America's Most Vulnerable Communities.”  Shaefer is also the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and the director of U-M’s Poverty Solutions. 

The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program was established in 2015 and provides philanthropic support for high-caliber scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society.  Shaefer is one of 27 fellows named to the 2020 class. The criteria prioritize the originality and potential impact of a proposal, as well as a scholar’s capacity to communicate the findings with a broad audience.

“I am deeply honored to be named one of the Carnegie Fellows,” says Shaefer. “The fellowship will help me and my collaborators immensely in our work to more deeply understand disadvantage in this country and help direct resources and action to where they’re needed most.”

Associate Professor and Associate Director for Poverty Solutions Kristin Seefeldt spoke with mid-Michigan station WLNS about Poverty Solution’s latest research. The Michigan Poverty and Well-Being Map show that even before the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic began, about 14% of Michiganders were living in poverty and another 29% of households were struggling to make ends meet. “We really wanted to do work that was meaningful to the communities around the state, so that we can provide information, and potential solutions to some of the challenges that many of these families are facing,” said Seefeldt.