School of Social Work News

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.

Lynn Videka, University of Michigan School of Social Work’s Dean and Carol T. Mowbray Collegiate Professor of Social Work was named a fellow to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. The Academy confers the honor on worthy candidates for their distinguished accomplishments as scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in high-impact work that advances social good.

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.

Four School of Social Work alumni were presented Distinguished Alumni Awards at the SSW All-Class Reunion Lunch on Friday, October 5, 2018.

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 »

Jessica Wiederspan, PhD '17 dissertation research, "How the Ideology of the American Dream Persists in an Era of Economic Insecurity" is cited in The Washington Post, "Donald Trump's grotesque fraud". Wiederspan is a researcher studying basic income with the Y Combinator.

Professor Edie Kieffer participated in a Congressional Briefing on Latina maternal and child health on September 27 in Washington, DC. A scholarly review featuring Kieffer’s research and that of 11 other authors was shared outlining five recommended national action steps ranging from creating more culturally competent programming to establishing a National Center for Latino Maternal and Child Health.  

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.