Faculty News

Associate Professor Emerita Diane Kaplan Vinokur’s new book “Shared Space and the New Nonprofit Workplace” has won the 2019 Terry McAdam Book Award from The Alliance for Nonprofit Management.  “Particularly at this moment when many nonprofits face significant fiscal challenges, we found it to be a hopeful and practical template for collaboration and strengthening the nonprofit sector,” noted the award committee. 

Associate Research Scientist Roland Zullo comments on GM strike with Time Magazine. GM union members have joined a national uptick in strikes, with Americans increasingly turning to collective action in the face of unstable employment practices. “In a healthy labor relations context, there’s that understanding that when times are tough, everybody sacrifices. But when times improve, everybody shares, right?” Zullo says.

Luke Shaefer, Professor of Social Work and director of Poverty Solutions, and his co-authors study on material hardships among seniors and children was cited in a recent Washington Post article. Shaefer said about their study "“one of the major takeaways is how incredibly important Social Security is in the retirement security of low- and moderate-income households.”

Sol Drachler Professor of Social Work, Karla Goldman, was quoted in the article "200 years ago, John Adams promoted a Jewish state in the Holy Land" in The Times of Israel.  The article explains how the reasoning behind President Trump’s support of a Jewish homeland differs sharply from that of the second president, John Adams. 

Clinical Associate Professor Julie Ribaudo discussed infant mental health programs with Second Wave Michigan. “Babies need to be adored and to adore,” Ribaudo says. “Babies grow better when they love deeply and are loved deeply.”

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt has been appointed new associate faculty director at the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions. Poverty Solutions is a presidential initiative that aims to prevent and alleviate poverty through action-based research that informs policymakers, community organizations, government entities and practitioners about what works in confronting poverty.  Seefeldt in her new role will engage more faculty and students in meaningful research opportunities.

Associate Professor Daphne Watkins' research on black men is featured in U-M Record.  Watkins researches how men and boys define themselves as men and boys, and how that influences their mental health.

We welcome four new faculty members to Michigan Social Work — a community joined together by a strong commitment to diversity, respect, inclusion and learning from one another.
 

Fernanda L. Cross
Transitional Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 

Area of Expertise
Latinx mixed-status families, undocumented immigrants, ethnic-racial socialization, discrimination experiences, adolescent mental health and academic outcomes

Jessica A. Wojtalik
Transitional Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 

Area of Expertise
Child abuse and neglect, child maltreatment prevention, neighborhoods, poverty, program evaluation, social policy, parenting

Kathryn L. Maguire-Jack
Associate Professor of Social Work
 

Area of Expertise
American Indian/Alaska Native Suicide Prevention, Indigenous Youth Resilience, Culturally-Specific Behavioral Health Services, Digitally-Enhanced Participatory Research

Lisa M. Wexler
Professor of Social Work
 

Area of Expertise
Psychosocial and cognitive interventions, schizophrenia, severe mental illnesses and pathophysiology of mental illness and cognitive impairment