Alum Helps 14 Afghan’s Escape From Their Country In 2018, the school awarded our annual Distinguished Alumni Award to Ben Schumacker, MSW ’06. The award recognized his founding of The Memory Project, a youth arts organization that promotes intercultural understanding and kindness between children around the world. More than 300,000 youth in 55 countries have …
Congratulations to Professor and Director Stephanie Robert whose dedication to mentoring was recognized by the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. Starting in 2022, the Stephanie Robert Mentoring Award will be “given annually to recognize an outstanding mentor who has given time and dedication as a mentor and in so doing, has made a significant …
Wilder Deitz, BA ’17, is a lifelong musician who first learned music on tour with his father, roots musician Ritt Deitz, and later under the mentorship of jazz great and UW–Madison faculty member Richard Davis. This summer, Wilder and musician friend Ruben Arndt opened the Wilder Deitz School for Creative Music, an innovative musicianship community …
Multi-year funding will aid research on mothers’ work schedules and children’s health and development The number of hours moms work outside the home increased dramatically over the past 50 years and in recent decades, the nature of their work schedules has become progressively geared toward a “24/7” service, or “gig” economy. This means that working …
Congratulations to Kristi Wood, MSW ’13 who was selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Social Workers representing Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana for three years. Wood is a lecturer and faculty field liaison in the Department of Social Work at UW-Whitewater, and a foster parent trainer for the Wisconsin Child …
Dr. Kevin J. Mahoney, PhD ’78 has a new book out covering twenty-five years of work, Self Direction: A Revolution in Human Services with co-author Valerie J. Bradley. In it, the authors discuss the growth of the “self direction” movement in which people with disabilities and older adults gained more autonomy over decisions related to their …
Patrice Hutchins (BSW ’09, MSW ’10) named as assistant principal at Madison East High School.
Vast Experiences Inform Her Domestic Violence Advocacy Social welfare junior Megan Mercier was recently named as a finalist for one of the most prestigious undergraduates awards in the nation – the Truman Scholarship. The Truman Scholarship recognizes outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence. Mercier …
Congratulations to Alan Irgang, a senior long-term lecturer in the school, who is retiring. Alan has taught several courses for the school over the years, most recently the Substance Use Disorders course in the Part-Time MSW Program. Countless students and colleagues have benefitted from Alan’s expertise in mental health, including substance use disorders and LGBTQ affirming …
What does the bassoon have to do with social work? Recent graduate, Dr. Midori Samson draws the connection through her work to invoke social work principles in and through music. This spring she completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Bassoon Performance with a Doctoral Minor in Social Welfare. Her dissertation: Recentered Music Learning: Operationalizing …