School of Social Work News

Field Faculty and Lecturer Stacy Peterson has received the 2022 Distinguished Lecturer Award. For more than twenty years, her exceptional dedication and commitment to social work values have made a positive impact on both students and the field. Peterson has presented at multiple national Council on Social Work Education conferences on innovative field practices.

"Thank you for this wonderful recognition of my work. It is an honor and privilege to be in the company of great leaders and teachers. I am passionate about my work and use the core values of social work (service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity and competence) as a compass in my teaching and serving.  I appreciate this acknowledgment and in these tumultuous times, I remain inspired and hopeful that we can contribute to healing our world." 

Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton has been named 2022 Student Union Teacher of the Year. This award is given by the School of Social Work students and recognizes faculty who have demonstrated commitment to improving DEI, made an outstanding and positive contribution to the School’s climate, and whose skills, dedication, understanding and caring have made a positive impact on students.

"I find teaching to be a profoundly rewarding experience. In fact, I believe I have the best job on the planet (SSW students are the best!). With the philosophy that education functions as a practice of freedom (as the late bell hooks said), I embrace a progressive, holistic, co-learning and engaged pedagogy with the adoption of cultural diversity in the classroom context. Freedom in education allows me to embrace the performative acts associated with teaching, offer a space for change, invention, and spontaneous shifts and serve as a catalyst to draw out thoughtful and critical discussions among students."

Professor Daphne Watkins has received the 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award. Watkins is a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor who studies behavioral interventions for historically marginalized groups, mixed methods approaches to research in context, and leadership development and organizational structures. She is the Director of the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity and Research Training. 

"The SSW Distinguished Faculty Award means a lot to me. As someone trained in anthropology and public health, this acknowledgment speaks to the respect my colleagues have for the interdisciplinary nature of my work and what I bring to the School. Social work has been my home for well over a decade, but not without some uncertainty on my part. Early in my career, I wondered if I could truly embody social work’s values in my research, teaching and service. This award confirms I am not only working hard to represent the School in a positive light globally and domestically but that the faculty see me, respect my efforts and are proud to have me as a colleague.” 

Congratulations to the following faculty members whose promotions were approved by the U-M Board of Regents last night: Jaclynn Hawkins,  Shanna Kattari and Addie Weaver were promoted to associate professor with tenure. Shawna Lee, Matt Smith and Karen Staller were promoted to professor. Earlier this spring, Rick Barinbaum and Daphne Brydon were promoted to Lecturer II and Yatesha Robinson to Lecturer IV.

The inaugural Innovation in Research and Teaching Award recognizes research — with either incremental innovation that builds over time, with its impact to be felt in the future, radical Innovations that current issues in the moment they occur and disruptive innovation that challenges the status quo — or existing theories, methods, and pedagogies.

The Child Welfare Student Association visited the Michigan state capitol on April 25 to mark National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The students listened to inspirational speakers, networked with legislators and took a tour of the capitol building.

PhD student (Social Work & Psychology) Andrea Mora was awarded a scholarship from the Association of Latina/o Social Work Educators. The scholarship supports the advancement of social work education especially among the Latino population.

PhD student (Social Work & Anthropology) Yun Chen was awarded a Barbour Scholarship from Rackham Graduate School for the 2022-23 academic year. Barbour established a U-M scholarship for women of the highest academic and professional caliber from the area extending from Turkey in the west to Japan and the Philippines in the east. Barbour scholars study science, medicine, mathematics and other academic disciplines.