School of Social Work News

The Alliance of Social Workers in Sports established “The Bill Vanderwill Award” for outstanding leadership in sport social work.  The new award was announced at the Fourth Annual Social Work in Sports Symposium in Orlando, Flordia. This is an annual award and Bill Vanderwill, SSW Field Educator is the first recipient of this honor.

Associate Professor Daphne Watkins discusses her research on black men and boys and the YBMen Project with XXL Magazine. The feature explores hip-hop's complicated relationship with mental health and how a new crop of rappers are bringing the conversation to the forefront.

Wilbur J. Cohen Collegiate Professor of Social Work Ruth E. Dunkle will be honored by the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work with a Career Achievement Award during the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting on November 16, 2018. The award recognizes Dunkle for her outstanding leadership in social work education and aging. 

Associate Professor David Córdova and his youth advisory board from Hamady High School in Flint presented "A Community-University Approach to Preventing HIV" at the MICHR symposium held in Flint. The presenters were Charmere McCadden, Aliyah Brewton, Amir James and Associate Professor David Córdova.

Associate Professor Daphne Watkins has been appointed to the Movember Foundation Global Men’s Health Advisory Committee. The Movember Foundation is the only charity tackling men’s health on a global scale. Since 2003, the Movember Foundation has provided over $850 million in funding toward more than 1,200 health projects in 21 countries. Movember invests in programs that focus on men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

Matthew Bakko, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Sociology has been selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars program.

The program supports and connects emerging scholars who are committed to bringing about meaningful change and building a national Culture of Health. Participants build the interdisciplinary skills and relationships necessary to extend their influence and impact, break down silos, address health disparities, and make our communities healthier.

His research will explore how new philanthropic and service delivery models and tools reconfigure organizations, engage with diverse communities, alter power dynamics and blur sector boundaries to affect the capacity building and social change process.

The Robert Woods Johnson Health Policy Research Scholars program supports underrepresented scholars, including first-generation, low-income background and students of color.

Assistant Professor Shanna Kattari is Bakko's Institutional Mentor for the Healthy Policy Research Scholars Program.

Cherish Fields, MSW '11 and a Blavin Scholar graduate, Miriam Connolly MSW '04 and director of the Blavin Scholar Program and Professor Joe Ryan highlight the importance of the Blavin Scholars program.
“The Blavin program is an innovative approach to helping young adults reach their full potential,” Professor Joe Ryan and co-director of the Child & Adolescent Data Lab.

Associate Professor Luke Shaefer will receive a Faculty Recognition Award on October 3 from the University of Michigan. Bestowed every fall by the Rackham Graduate School, the Faculty Recognition Award recognizes mid-career faculty who have made remarkable contributions to the University through scholarly research; excellence as teachers, advisors and mentors; and distinguished service.