University of Michigan alumna Vivian A. Curtis (MSW ’48) and her husband Dr. James L. Curtis (MD ’46) recently gave $1 million to the School of Social Work to fund an endowment to support master’s and doctoral students.
To recognize the gift, the school’s research center has been renamed as the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center. A dedication ceremony, which included participants from the School’s faculty as well as family and friends of Dr. and Mrs. Curtis, was held on May 5.
Although unable to attend, Provost Teresa A. Sullivan sent a letter on behalf of the University expressing appreciation for the Curtises’ generous gift. She noted that the donation provided “critical resources for the pioneering research of our faculty and for the broad and deep education that is the hallmark of Michigan graduates.”
Dean Paula Allen-Meares also reflected on the Curtises’ donation to the School, stating, “The generosity shown by the Curtises in endowing a student scholarship fund here at the School of Social Work will impact not only the lives of the student recipients but also the communities, organizations, and people that these students will eventually go on to serve. We are deeply appreciative of this most meaningful and heartfelt gift.”
The goal of the center—which builds on the experience of the School’s Research Center on Poverty, Risk, and Mental Health—is to foster interdisciplinary, externally funded research in mental health, substance abuse, and health that impacts vulnerable populations.
Dean Paula Allen-Meares and Associate Professor Jorge Delva will work together to fulfill the objectives of the center, which began in 1995 through a federal grant and is located in the building’s lower level.
The Curtises met in 1948 at Wayne County General Hospital, where Vivian conducted her field placement in psychiatric social work and James was in the first year of his psychiatric residency training. They married the following year and moved to New York City, where he pursued his career in academic psychiatry and she began her social work career.
Vivian held faculty appointments at many of New York’s major universities. For 46 years she was on the social work staff of Kings County Hospital, the largest unit of the New York City hospital system, and the teaching hospital of the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. As director of the department of social work for 25 years, she and her staff supervised social work students from all of the New York schools of social work doing their field work placements in the medical, surgical, or psychiatric services. Vivian retired in 1995.
James Curtis retired in 2000 after nearly 20 years as director of psychiatry at Harlem Hospital. An emeritus clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, he has written two books printed by the U-M Press: Blacks, Medical Schools, and Society (1971) and Affirmative Action in Medicine: Improving Health Care for Everyone (2003).
The Curtises moved back to Michigan after Vivian Curtis was diagnosed with progressive Alzheimer’s disease. The gift recognizes her career and affection for the School.
“Vivian’s great pride in the U-M SSW, from which she graduated, is what convinced me that this would be an appropriate memorial to her career,” Curtis said. “The U-M School of Social Work’s academic mission and commitment to excellence were also very important in my decision making.”
—A revised version of this article, by Jared Wadley, appeared in the University Record on May 21.
In August 2007 the School was informed of the passing of Vivian Curtis. She will be missed by the many people whose lives she touched. Ed.