Social Work Faculty and Ph.D. Student Receive Honors

By Barbara Jester

Several faculty and a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Social Work have received majors grants and honors this spring. The following is a summary of some of those who have been recognized for their groundbreaking work.

Shulumuth Lala Straussner, professor of social work, has received two awards: a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to the University of Warsaw, and a Lady Davis Fellowship to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she will be a visiting professor, for spring semester, 2007. The latter is rarely given to professors of social work. Straussner will be in Warsaw this coming fall where she will be lecturing and developing curricula focusing on mass trauma as well as substance abuse.

David Gardner, assistant professor, has been named a Hartford Scholar under the Hartford Fellow Faculty Scholars Program in Geriatric Social Work. This competitive award (only 8-10 are presented annually in the U.S.) provides funding for research over two years and additional funds and resources for career development. Gardner’s research interests focus on health and aging, end-of-life care, and the role of familial and social relationships in managing chronic and terminal illness.

Robert Leibson Hawkins, assistant professor, has been awarded a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research to help support his current research on Katrina victims, specifically the idea of cultural integration, social capital, and family structure among low-income residents and former residents of New Orleans. The center’s research mission is a multidisciplinary approach to the causes, consequences, and correlates of poverty and inequality in the southern United States.

Jeane Anastas, professor of social work and director of the school’s Ph.D. program, has been selected to receive the Arnold Grossman Award for Outstanding Faculty/Staff Service to the LBGT community at NYU.

Gary Holden, professor of social work, was recently selected as a Senior Scholar by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). His work at CSWE while he is on sabbatical will focus on social work educational outcomes assessment. CSWE is a national organization whose mission includes the establishment of policy and program standards, the accreditation of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in social work, the promotion of faculty development and research, as well as advocacy for social work education.

Jennifer Mills, Ph.D. candidate in theschool, has been awarded one of the very competitive American Cancer Society doctoral training awards in oncology and social work. Mills, who is director of patient education at the Lymphoma Foundation, will receive $15,000/year for two years and another $5,000 each year for research-related expenses. She will be studying in depth how long-term cancer survivors actually manage their survival, maintaining their relationships and daily life even under the threat of death.