Joint PhD Program News

Maria Wathen successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Civic Culture Frameworks & Globalization; Implications for Social Services in Russia” and obtained her PhD in Social Work and Sociology. She has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at Loyola University.

Her committee consisted of Mary Ruffolo, Barbara Anderson (co-chairs), Sandra Danziger, Karin Martin, and Scott Allard.

Alix Gould-Werth (PhD in Social Work and Sociology '15) received a ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for her dissertation "From Pink Slip to Unemployment Insurance: Legal Mobilization and the Struggle to Make Ends Meet". The Award recognizes exceptional and unusually interesting work produced by U-M doctoral students.

Alex Gould-Werth (PhD '15) has been selected to receive a ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for 2015. This award recognizes the most exceptional scholarly work produced by doctoral students at the University of Michigan who completed their dissertations in 2015. 

Elizabeth Rhodes successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “The Micro-Dynamics of Health and Education Provision in the Slums of Nairobi” and obtained her PhD in Social Work and Political Science. Her committee consisted of Trina Shanks, Anne Pitcher (co-chairs), Luke Shaefer and Pauline Luong.

Five School of Social Work alumni were presented Distinguished Alumni Awards at the SSW All Class Reunion Lunch on Friday, October 31, 2014. 

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.

Learn more about the Distinguished Alumni Award »

Elizabeth Rhodes (PhD student), along with mentor Associate Professor Trina Shanks, received an award from the U-M Rackham Graduate School to conduct fieldwork for her PhD dissertation.

The dissertation aims to determine what factors (e.g. income, ethnicity, political affiliation, community involvement, etc.) affect access to health and education services and satisfaction with the quantity and quality of services utilized.

PhD student Amanda Tillotson and Professor John Tropman published "Early Responders, Late Responders, and Non-responders: The Principal-Agent Problem in Board Oversight of Nonprofit CEOs" in the current issue of Human Service Organizations Management Leadership and Governance Journal. 

Claudette Grinnell-Davis successfully defended her dissertation, entitled "Toward an Etiology of Child Maltreatment: An Ecological Study of Primary Caregivers At Risk of Child Welfare System Involvement" and thus obtained her PhD in Social Work and Psychology.

Dr. Grinnell-Davis has accepted an Assistant Professor of Child Welfare and Social Work position at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

Her committee included Berit Ingersoll-Dayton, Robert Ortega, Lorraine Gutierrez and Andrew Grogan-Kaylor.