Alumni Class Notes
Awards and Honors
Frederick L. Ahearn '73DSW, Professor and Co-Director of the Center for International Social Development at the Catholic University of America, received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Work and the 2009 Education Global Education Award from the Council on Social Work Education.
Murali Nair '78DSW received Cleveland State University's 2009 Distinguished Teaching Award.
Barbara Grodd '79 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the College of New Rochelle's School of New Resources.
Eileen M. Verity '97 was honored by Long Island Business News at their 12th annual "40 Under40" induction gala. The program recognizes business and community leaders under the age of 40 who are shaping Long Island's future. Eileen is Director of Senior Services and Nutrition Programs for Catholic Charities of Rockville Centre and also serves as the Emergency and Disaster Response Coordinator for the agency.
Seth Kurzban '98 '09PhD, an Assistant Professor at the USC School of Social Work has been named to the Advisory Board of The Gabe W. Miller Memorial Foundation.
Sherry Saturno, '00, Director of Social Services at Sprain Brook Manor in Scarsdale, has been named the 2010 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers of NY/Westchester Division. She is also being featured in the NASW national marketing campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Kenneth Jones '01 received the inaugural Black Gay Research Group's Emerging Scholar and Leadership Award. The award recognizes "anoutstanding Black gay man who has made significant contributions in advancing the ideals of the Black Gay Research Agenda through research or other intellectual discourse or forms of scholarly activity."
Amanda Guarino '04 received ACF's Partnering for Health and Human Services Excellence Award. The award recognizes teams that excel in developing external partnerships and in reaching across organizational boundaries to accomplish specific agency goals. Amanda served on the Hurricane Ike Response Team and Region II's Emergency Preparedness and Response Team, both of which produced stellar outcomes.
Brook K. Dayton '06, Elizabeth Lee '05, Marcella Tillet '03, and Jenna Tutjer '06 were named the 2009 Emerging Social Work Leaders by the National Association of Social Workers-New York City Chapter. The annual award recognizes social workers who demonstrate exemplary leadership qualities and a unique commitment to the improvement of social and human conditions.
Emily Ball '06 received an Employee Excellence Award from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Emily was recognized particularly for coordinating ACF's performance management efforts with "ease andwith great smoothness in a complex and fast-paced environment."
Brendan Kelly, a doctoral candidate at CUSSW, served as the Team Leader for ACF's Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference Team, heading the group that received the Organizational Team Achievement Award in recognition of a "supremely organized effortthat demonstrated intellectual vitality, logistical excellence, and dedication resulting in an outstanding event and a model of teamwork."
Natasha Josefowitz '65 had her eighteenth book, Been There, Done That, Doing It Better: A Witty Look at Growing Older by a Formerly Young Person published by Blue Mountain Arts.
Dorothy Gamble '66 authored Community Practice Skills: Local to Global Perspectives which was published by Columbia University Press.
Mimi Abramovitz '67 '81DSW presented a paper entitled, "The SocialDeterminants of Social Problems" atthe Annual Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education in San Antonio, TX. She also recently published a paper entitled "Double Jeopardy: TheImpact of Neoliberalism on Care Workers in United States and South Africa"in the International Journal of Health Services.
Carole A. Winston '71, Director of the Maya Angelou Institute for the Improvement of Child & FamilyEducation at Winston Salem State University, was awarded $21,354 by the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem for the "Mothers and Daughters: 2gether weCAN!" program designed to strengthenrelationships between mothers and their fourth grade daughters.
Matt Boettcher '83, LCSW is the Director of Case Management at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ.
Sue Smith '84 has been promoted to Director of the Housing Resource Center at the Center for Urban Community Services in New York City.
Donna Scimia '86 is host and producer of weekly TV talk show, "Taming the CubicleJungle: Workplace Discussions that Make a Difference." Donna is also thepresident of Scimia Consulting Group, Inc.
Anat Leonard '02 has been promoted to Deputy Executive Director of Housing Services for the Bowery Resident's Committee in New York City. Anat will be overseeing six programs throughout New York City.
Zenya Cleveland '03 is Director of the Family and Community Services for Head Start of Rockland, Inc. where she will be ensuring compliance of the service delivery of the Social Service aspect of Head Start programming in Rockland County, NY.
Terry Ann Klee '06 presented her CUSSW-M.S. research on "TheObscured Identities of Childlessness" atthe New York State Society for Clinical Social Work 39th Annual Conference. She was subsequently interviewed by ELLE Magazine for a forthcoming feature article entitled, "When Does Recreational Sex BecomePro-creational."
Wendie Veloz '06 is working for the Center for Disease Control's International Experience and Technical Assistance (CDC-IETA) Program. The goal of the program is to increase the number of federal employees who are qualified and experienced for work in public health overseas.
Susan Ilyin '07 was accepted as a Mickey Leland Fellow for the Congressional Hunger Center. Leland Fellows work on issues that impact hunger including food security, HIV/AIDS, agriculture, nutrition, school feeding, and market access. Susan's placement is in Land O'Lakes, Ethiopia.
Natania Kremer '07 is now Director of Early Childhood Support Services at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in New York.
Kam Chi (Gigi) Li '07 has been named Co-Director of the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition in New York.
David Feinerman '08 is the Program Coordinator for the Queens Regional Initiative of UJA-Federation of New York's Connect to Care, a program serving individuals and families who have been impacted by the economic downturn.
Jordan Esai Jenrette White '09 is an ORISE Research Fellow serving as an Health Communications Specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. She assists senior staff with the formative research that guides the development of the Act Against AIDS campaign.
Faces of Hope
In a new photo exhibit at the Columbia University School of Social Work entitled "Faces of Hope," photographer Charlotte Raymond captures the portraits of some of the young women and children with whom World Childhood Foundation helps. Founded in 1999 by Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden, the mission of the Foundation is to defend the rights of the child to a secure childhood and, in particular, to work for better living conditions for children at risk all over the world. Special gratitude is extended to alumna Monika Heimbold '89 and the World Childhood Foundation whose generosity made this exhibition possible.
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