100 Distinguished Alumni
GSSWSR graduates nominated their peers and colleagues for inclusion in a list of our 100 Distinguished Alumni. We are pleased to list them below and recognize their accomplishments and their dedication to the service of others.
Ann A. Abbott
MSS β69, PhD β77
Former chair, Graduate Department of Social Work, West Chester University and Associate Dean, Rutgers University School of Social Work
Faith Angell
MSS β65
U.S. Magistrate Judge, Eastern District, PA
Khary M. Atif
MSS β97, MLSP β98
Program Administrator for Staff Development Support, Philadelphia DHS
Beth I. Barol
MSS β86, PhD β98
Associate Professor, Director of the MSW program, Widener University Center for Social Work Education
Linda R. Barth
MSS β73
Clinician working with children, families and individuals
Joyce O. Beckett
MSS β69, PhD β77
Professor Emerita, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work
L. Diane Bernard
PhD β67
Retired social work educator and CDWE leader; advocate bringing womenβs and LGBTQ issues to the forefront of social work education
Sharon Bishop
MSS β71
Co-founder of Calibre Associates, consulting organization on human services and human resource issues
Joretha Bourjolly
PhD β96
Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Yvette Bradford
MSS β90, MLSP β90
Former senior administrator with Liberty Lutheran Services and Philadelphia Corporation for Aging; community volunteer
Lynette M. Brown-Sow
MSS β81
Vice President, Marketing and Government Relations, Community College of Philadelphia
Page Walker Buck
MSS β04, PhD β08
Associate Professor, Director of MSW program, West Chester State University
Patricia Millar Burland
MSS β56
Retired GSSWSR professor of clinical social work; leader, PA Society for Clinical Social Work
Jean Campbell
MSS β13
Outpatient therapist, behavioral specialist consultant and mobile therapist
Patricia L. Chapman
MSS β81
Philanthropist supporting women balancing education and family
Lewis C. Chartock
PhD β74
President and CEO, Metropolitan Employment and Rehabilitation Services/Missouri Goodwill
Darla Spence Coffey
PhD β99
President, Council on Social Work Education
Soraya Davis Coley
MSS β74, PhD β81
President, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Sandra S. Cornelius
MSS β68, PhD β76
President, Elwyn
Adelaide Cromwell
CERT β43
Professor Emeritus, Boston University
Philip W. Damiani
MSS β76
Executive Director, Delaware County Court System (Retired)
Joan K. Davitt
MSS β93, MLSP β94, PhD β03
Associate Professor and Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholar, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Merle M. Drake
MSS β82
Founder, CEO of Supportive Older Women's Network (SOWN) 1983βpresent
Fanita Blumberg
English MA β42, CERT β42
Transactional Analysis theorist, training analyst and practitioner
JoAnne Fischer
MSS β73
Executive Director of Maternity Care Coalition (1989-present)
Anna S. Forbes
MSS β92
Global women's health activist and policy analyst
Ellen W. Freeman
MSS β73, PhD β76
Research Professor, Co-director of the Human Behavior Reproduction Unit, University of Pennsylvania Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Mariah Fenton Gladis
MSS β72
Founder and Director, Pennsylvania Gestalt Center
Judith Green
MSS β90, MLSP β90
Coordinator, Family to Family program, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Main Line
Laura Cohen Groves
MSS β95, PhD β06
Associate Professor and Chair, Social Work Department, Cabrini College
Gloria M. Guard
MSS β78, MLSP β80
Executive Director of People's Emergency Center (1983-2010)
Anne B. Hagele
MSS β75
Executive Director, Philadelphia Senior Center, Retired
Raheemah Shamsid-Deen Hampton
MSS β02
Southeast Regional Director, Commonwealth of Pennsylvaniaβs Office of Children, Youth and Families
Lina Hartocollis
MSS β89, PhD β99
Dean of Students and Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Social Work Program, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Julius A. Hayes
MSS β87, MLSP β88
National Officer/Local leader, National Association of Black Social Workers; supervisor, Philadelphia DHS
Ethel B. Hill
MSS β65
Social Security Administration Federal Women's Program Manager (Retired); Howard County, MD, civic leader
Stephen M. Holden
MSS β67, PhD β75
New Jersey Superior Court Judge
Linda Denise Houser
PhD β10
Associate Professor, PHD Program Director, Widener University Center for Social Work Education
Demetrius S. Iatridis
PhD β55
Professor Emeritus, Boston College Graduate School of Social Work (1966-2012)
Roberta R. Iversen
MSS β82, PhD β91
Associate Professor, Director, Master of Science in Social Policy Program, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Carrie Jacobs
MSS β83
Executive Director and co-founder of The Attic Youth Center for LGBTQ youth
Celeste M. Johnson
MSS β78, PhD β06
Associate Professor, Widener University Center for Social Work Education; research focus on urban adolescents and trauma
Aulikki Kananoja
MSS β71
Awarded the first Finnish presidential honorary title for social workβthe highest honor for a profession (2012)
Stephen E. Kauffman
PhD β92
Associate Professor, Widener University Center for Social Work Education; Teagle Assessment Scholar of Center for the Inquiry of Liberal Arts based at Wabash College
Nancy J. Kirby
MSS β65
Coordinator of Alumni Connections, GSSWSR, former Assistant Dean and Director of Admission, GSSWSR (1983-2010)
Carole Landis
MSS β95
Chairwoman, Landis Foundation for Social Action
John G. Loeb
MSS β69
Senior Vice President, Public Health Management Corporation, retired (1971-2011); Chairperson GSSWSR Board of Advisors
Robin S. Mama
MSS β84, MLSP β84, PhD β90
Dean and Professor, Monmouth University School of Social Work; Representative of the International Federation of Social Workers at the United Nations
Marcia L. Martin
PhD β82
Co-Dean (2002-2009); Associate Dean, Director of Field Instruction, adjunct faculty, GSSWSR
Thaddeus P. Mathis
MSS β68
Professor Emeritus, Temple University School of Social Administration; Founder, Institute for Africana Social Work
Ruth W. Mayden
MSS β70
Dean, GSSWSR (1987-2002); NASW President (1999-2001); Annie E. Casey Fellow (2002-2013)
Patrick T. McCarthy
PhD β81
President and CEO, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Judith L. M. McCoyd
PhD β03
Associate Professor, Rutgers University School of Social Work; research focus on trauma and bereavement
Suzanne M. McMurphy
MSS β84, MLSP β85, PhD β93
Associate Professor, Social Work, University of Windsor; focus on community research
Justine McNamara
PhD β04
Senior Research Fellow, NATSEM, University of Canberra
Susan A. Messina
AB β86, MSS β91, MLSP β92
Social justice advocate and activist for LGBTQ issues and childbirth education
Honora Rose Miller
MSS β99, MLSP β99
Director,Commission on the Status of Women and the LGBTQ Commission, San Mateo County, CA
Judith Dabney Miller
MSS β85, MLSP β86
Associate Director, Women's Law Project
Tselane Mokuena
MSS β94, MLSP β94
Deputy Executive Director, Tripartite Secretariat-South Africa, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo; former South Africa Consul to Canada and to Germany
Jean Campbell Moore
MSS β49
Associate Professor Emerita, Temple University School of Social Administration; founder, Career Ladders Program; program host, WRTI
Anthony Morelli
MSS β12
Director of Off-Site Programming, Peter's Placeβa Center for Grieving Children
Alice Muludiang
MSS β05, MLSP β06
Advocate for Sudanese refugees in the US and for capacity building in South Sudan; board member, Global Education Motivators
Sabina N. Neem
MSS β07, MLSP β07
Associate Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Seattle University; Co-Chair, Seattle LGBT Commission
Sheila Nielsen, MSS β73
President, Nielsen Career Counselingβexecutive coaching firm
Dolores G. Norton
MSS β60, PhD β69
Professor Emerita, University of Chicago School of Social Administration; first African American tenured professor at ±¬ΑΟΉΟ
Ann OβBrien
MSS β03, MLSP β03
CEO, Montgomery Early Learning Centers; former Senior Vice President, United Way of Southeastern PA
Catherine Ormerod
MSS β99, MLSP β99
Founding director, Non-Profit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI), GSSWSR; Vice President Programs and Partnerships, Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC)
Cheryl Ann Parks
PhD β97
Dean and Professor, Simmons College School of Social Work
Belle B. Parmet
MA β40, CERT β40
Former Director of Psychiatric Social Worker at Carrier Foundation; early pioneer in family therapy practice
Joan T. Pennell
PhD β90
Professor of Social Work and Director of Center for Family and Community Engagement, North Carolina State University
Felice Perlmutter
PhD β69
Professor Emeritus, Temple University School of Social Administration; pioneer in social work administration
Linda Cherrey Reeser
MSS β60, PhD β69
Professor, Director of BSW Program, Western Michigan University
Lawrence S. Root
MSS β71
Professor and Director of Office of Global Activities, University of Michigan School of Social Work
Tawana Ford Sabbath
MSS β71, PhD β86
Community elder, clinician and mentor; local and national NABSW leader
Allyson Y. Schwartz
MSS β72
Former PA US Representative and PA State Senator; President and CEO, Better Medicare Alliance
Deena Schwartz
MSS β65
Social worker and advocate for persons and families dealing with longer-term intellectual disabilities
Nicholas C. Scull
MSS β02
Clinical Director, Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute; Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean, American University of Kuwait
Carol Shapiro
MSS β78
Founder and President of Family Justice, community centered re-entry program; Ashoka Fellow
Valerie Shapiro
MSS β05
Assistant Professor, co-director of Center for Prevention Research, UC-Berkeley School of Social Welfare
Corey Shdaimah
PhD β05
Associate Professor, Academic coordinator of MSW/JD program, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Edmund A. Sherman
PhD β67
Professor Emeritus, SUNY-Albany School of Social Welfare
James H. Sills
PhD β81
Former state representative, city councilman and two term mayor of Wilmington, DE
Paula T. Silver
PhD β92
Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies, Widener University
Basha A. Silverman
MSS β12
Vice President for Strategic Planning, Jewish Family and Children's Services of Greater Philadelphia
Barbara L. Simon
MSS β76, PhD β81
Associate Professor, Columbia University School of Social Work
Rosa Lee Smith
MSS β51
Retired counselor, LaSalle University, mentor to countless social workers; collaborator with Dr. Warren E. Smith, community psychiatrist
Deborah Spungen
MSS β89, MLSP β90
Founding Director of Families of Murder Victims and Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
Harold E.Stafford
MSS β73
Former Secretary of Labor, State of Delaware; more than 30 years of management of Delaware state agencies
Gail S. Steketee
MSS β73, PhD β87
Dean and Professor, Boston University School of Social Work
Patricia A. Stewart
MSS β81
Advocate and national consultant on HIV/AIDS issues in the African American community; clinician and social work mentor
Jennifer Stotter
MSS β99, PhD β10
Director of EEO/AA, University of Hawaii at Hilo; former Director of AA/EEO, CVS Caremark Corporation
Emiko Anne Tajima
PhD β99
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Washington School of Social Work
Tony Thurmond
MSS β95, MLSP β96
Representative, 15th Assembly District, California; former Richmond, CA, council member; youth services advocate
Niambi Robinson-Tillman
AB β92, MSS β94, MLSP β95
Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dallas, TX
Theresa Peaches Valdes
AB β99, MSS β03, MLSP β03
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, ±¬ΑΟΉΟ
Shirley Waites-Howard
MSS β77
Social work educator, bereavement counselor and longtime community activist
Nina Wall-Cote
MSS β00
Director, Bureau of Autism Services of the PA Department of Public Welfare
Bertha S. Waters
MSS β79
Community advocate and activist for social justice and social change
Elizabeth Werthan
MSS β73
Dedicated advocate for women's health and rights; former Executive Director of CHOICE and Board Chair of Womenβs Way
Henry L. Westray
MSS β74
Former State Coordinator and Chair, Maryland Governor's Commission on Suicide Prevention
Scott M. Wilson
MSS β65, PhD β76
Social work education consultant, Senior Educational Specialist, Division of Standards and Accreditation, Council on Social Work Education
Robert E. Young
MSS β57
Retired Clinical Social Worker and Researcher, Eastern Virginia Medical School