Students News

Nina Jackson Levin, Joint PhD in Social Work and Anthropology, successfully defended her dissertation, "Meta/Static Ethnography of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncofertility Research and Practice at a United States Hospital: Implications for Sexual and Gender Minorities.” Her committee included Bradley J. Zebrack (co-chair) and Shanna Katz Kattari.

Jackson Levin plans to complete a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan Department of Endocrinology.

MSW student Kevin Nguyen has been appointed to the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “As the only student and youngest commissioner to ever serve on MAPAAC, I am humbled and honored to represent the growing APIA population in Michigan.” ENGAGE Program Manager and Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin serves as chair of the commission.

MSW student Cassandra Kelly has been selected as the 2023 University of Michigan National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Student of the Year. NASW selects students for this honor based on criteria that includes demonstrated leadership qualities, contribution to the positive image of a social work program, commitment to political and community activities, success in academic performance and the student’s representation of the NASW Code of Ethics.

Online Award Ceremony

Friday, April 14, 2023, 6-8 PM

RSVP »

Ramona Perry, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation "Black During COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Adoption of COVID-19 Risk Reduction Behaviors among Black Adults." Her committee included Jamie Mitchell (co-chair) and Jaclynn Hawkins.

After graduation, Perry will be co-owner of an evaluation consulting firm.

PhD Student Irene Routté has recently received both the Lester P. Monts Award for Outstanding Graduate Research from U-M’s African Studies Center, as well as an honorable mention from the 2022 Bennetta Jules-Rosette Graduate Essay Award contest from The Association for Africanist Anthropology. Routté’s essay, “Will You Take Care? Bio-Space, Racial Assemblages and the U.S. Youth Refugee Resettlement Welfare System,” is an ethnographic case study of an unaccompanied refugee minor from Nigeria during his first year in care under the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement. This essay was also awarded the School’s Henry Meyer award.

Six School of Social Work students have received CEW+ awards: 

MSW student Irma Maribel Andrade Guzman — Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar

MSW student Rossi Clark —  Beatrice Kahn Scholar 

MSW student Justine D’Souza — Margaret Dusseau Brevoot Scholar

MSW student Jennifer Harris — Susan Quackenbush Scholar 

MSW student Julia Hettich — Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar

PhD student Kari Sherwood — Mary Malcolmson Raphael Scholar

The CEW+ scholarship program was established in 1970 to honor the academic performance and potential of women whose education has been interrupted and to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the admissions of women to U-M. With support from our generous donors, CEW+ was able to expand the program in 2008 to include additional scholarships for students of all genders. This year’s cohort will be honored at the CEW+ award luncheon in November.

Lolita Moss, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “The Medium and the Message: An Investigation of Mainstream Media Use, Relationship Scripts, and Intimate Partner Violence among Black Adolescents.” Her committee consisted of Lorraine Gutiérrez and Richard Tolman.

Moss has accepted a position as a research faculty professor at Tulane University's Violence Prevention Institute in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Kaitlin Ward, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Ecological Influences of Parental Discipline Behaviors and Child Outcomes among Families in Low-and Middle-Income Countries.” Her committee consisted of Shawna Lee and Andy Grogan-Kaylor.

Ward has accepted a position at Google.