Joint PhD Program News

PhD student Olivia Chang was quoted in a recent MSN article about her research on the connection between veterans with PTSD and their use of corporal punishment in their parenting practices. “Understanding a child’s emotions and behavior is essential for effective parenting. This study reveals the challenges parents face in deciphering emotional cues, particularly when shaped by factors like racial background and the effects of traumatic stress,” said Chang. The story also was published in Medical Xpress.

PhD Student Irene Routté has received the 2024 Outstanding Doctoral Student Award from the Association for Community Organizing & Social Action (ACOSA). This award honors meritorious scholarship in the field of community practice.

Joonyoung Cho successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Aging in the Right Place: Effects from Relocation and Homebound Status.” His committee included Ruth Dunkle (co-chair) and Xiaoling Xiang. 

Cho has accepted an assistant professor position at the Center on Aging in the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa.

Michelangelo Trujillo has successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Identity-Based Processes and Clinical Social Work Education." His committee included Joseph Himle (co-chair) and Richard Tolman.

Rita Hu has successfully defended her dissertation, “The Role of Social Relationships in the Development and Consequences of Self-Perceptions of Aging across the Lifespan.” Her committee included Lydia Li (co-chair) and Ruth Dunkle. 

Hu has accepted a Provost's Postdoctoral Fellowship and will transition to a tenure-track assistant professor position in 2026 at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, University of Chicago.

MSW Student Kevin Nguyen has been selected as the 2024 U-M National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Student of the Year. In bestowing this award, NASW looks at criteria including demonstrated leadership qualities, contribution to the positive image of a social work program, commitment to political and community activities, success in academic performance and representation of the NASW Code of Ethics. The award ceremony will be held Friday, April 12, 2024, 6-8:30 PM in Lansing, Michigan.

PhD student So’Phelia Morrow describes in a New York Amsterdam News editorial how seeing a squirrel chasing a butterfly sparked hope and inspired her to leave an abusive partner.

“The moment lasted only a second, but it was long enough for me to receive the message,” she wrote. “Although I never thought much about butterflies before, at that moment, I saw it as hope. I laughed to myself. Hope was flying in front of me. Change was going to come.”

PhD student Joonyoung Cho has been named a 2024 Grand Challenges Doctoral Fellow. His project “Contact Frequency with Children Following Relocation Later in Life: Do Contact Modes and Proximity to a Child Matter?” addresses the Grand Challenge to Eradicate Social Isolation. These fellowships work to broaden the pipeline of social workers equipped for and committed to tackling and surmounting the Grand Challenges. PhD student Rita Hu received an honorable mention for her project “The Role of Social Relationships in The Internalization and Consequence of Self-Perceptions of Aging Across the Life Span.”