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 ’69, PhD ’77
Former chair, Graduate Department of Social Work, West Chester University and Associate Dean, Rutgers University School of Social Work
Faith Angell
MSS ’65
U.S. Magistrate Judge, Eastern District, PA
Khary M. Atif
MSS ’97, MLSP ’98
Program Administrator for Staff Development Support, Philadelphia DHS
Beth I. Barol
MSS ’86, PhD ’98
Associate Professor, Director of the MSW program, Widener University Center for Social Work Education
Linda R. Barth
MSS ’73
Clinician working with children, families and individuals
Joyce O. Beckett
MSS ’69, PhD ’77
Professor Emerita, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work
L. Diane Bernard
PhD ’67
Retired social work educator and CDWE leader; advocate bringing women’s and LGBTQ issues to the forefront of social work education
Sharon Bishop
MSS ’71
Co-founder of Calibre Associates, consulting organization on human services and human resource issues
Joretha Bourjolly
PhD ’96
Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Yvette Bradford
MSS ’90, MLSP ’90
Former senior administrator with Liberty Lutheran Services and Philadelphia Corporation for Aging; community volunteer
Lynette M. Brown-Sow
MSS ’81
Vice President, Marketing and Government Relations, Community College of Philadelphia
Page Walker Buck
MSS ’04, PhD ’08
Associate Professor, Director of MSW program, West Chester State University
Patricia Millar Burland
MSS ’56
Retired GSSWSR professor of clinical social work; leader, PA Society for Clinical Social Work
Jean Campbell
MSS ’13
Outpatient therapist, behavioral specialist consultant and mobile therapist
Patricia L. Chapman
MSS ’81
Philanthropist supporting women balancing education and family
Lewis C. Chartock
PhD ’74
President and CEO, Metropolitan Employment and Rehabilitation Services/Missouri Goodwill
Darla Spence Coffey
PhD ’99
President, Council on Social Work Education
Soraya Davis Coley
MSS ’74, PhD ’81
President, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Sandra S. Cornelius
MSS ’68, PhD ’76
President, Elwyn
Adelaide Cromwell
CERT ’43
Professor Emeritus, Boston University
Philip W. Damiani
MSS ’76
Executive Director, Delaware County Court System (Retired)
Joan K. Davitt
MSS ’93, MLSP ’94, PhD ’03
Associate Professor and Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholar, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Merle M. Drake
MSS ’82
Founder, CEO of Supportive Older Women's Network (SOWN) 1983–present
Fanita Blumberg
English MA ’42, CERT ’42
Transactional Analysis theorist, training analyst and practitioner
JoAnne Fischer
MSS ’73
Executive Director of Maternity Care Coalition (1989-present)
Anna S. Forbes
MSS ’92
Global women's health activist and policy analyst
Ellen W. Freeman
MSS ’73, PhD ’76
Research Professor, Co-director of the Human Behavior Reproduction Unit, University of Pennsylvania Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Mariah Fenton Gladis
MSS ’72
Founder and Director, Pennsylvania Gestalt Center
Judith Green
MSS ’90, MLSP ’90
Coordinator, Family to Family program, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Main Line
Laura Cohen Groves
MSS ’95, PhD ’06
Associate Professor and Chair, Social Work Department, Cabrini College
Gloria M. Guard
MSS ’78, MLSP ’80
Executive Director of People's Emergency Center (1983-2010)
Anne B. Hagele
MSS ’75
Executive Director, Philadelphia Senior Center, Retired
Raheemah Shamsid-Deen Hampton
MSS ’02
Southeast Regional Director, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Office of Children, Youth and Families
Lina Hartocollis
MSS ’89, PhD ’99
Dean of Students and Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Social Work Program, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Julius A. Hayes
MSS ’87, MLSP ’88
National Officer/Local leader, National Association of Black Social Workers; supervisor, Philadelphia DHS
Ethel B. Hill
MSS ’65
Social Security Administration Federal Women's Program Manager (Retired); Howard County, MD, civic leader
Stephen M. Holden
MSS ’67, PhD ’75
New Jersey Superior Court Judge
Linda Denise Houser
PhD ’10
Associate Professor, PHD Program Director, Widener University Center for Social Work Education
Demetrius S. Iatridis
PhD ’55
Professor Emeritus, Boston College Graduate School of Social Work (1966-2012)
Roberta R. Iversen
MSS ’82, PhD ’91
Associate Professor, Director, Master of Science in Social Policy Program, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Carrie Jacobs
MSS ’83
Executive Director and co-founder of The Attic Youth Center for LGBTQ youth
Celeste M. Johnson
MSS ’78, PhD ’06
Associate Professor, Widener University Center for Social Work Education; research focus on urban adolescents and trauma
Aulikki Kananoja
MSS ’71
Awarded the first Finnish presidential honorary title for social work—the highest honor for a profession (2012)
Stephen E. Kauffman
PhD ’92
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 ’65
Coordinator of Alumni Connections, GSSWSR, former Assistant Dean and Director of Admission, GSSWSR (1983-2010)
Carole Landis
MSS ’95
Chairwoman, Landis Foundation for Social Action
John G. Loeb
MSS ’69
Senior Vice President, Public Health Management Corporation, retired (1971-2011); Chairperson GSSWSR Board of Advisors
Robin S. Mama
MSS ’84, MLSP ’84, PhD ’90
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 ’82
Co-Dean (2002-2009); Associate Dean, Director of Field Instruction, adjunct faculty, GSSWSR
Thaddeus P. Mathis
MSS ’68
Professor Emeritus, Temple University School of Social Administration; Founder, Institute for Africana Social Work
Ruth W. Mayden
MSS ’70
Dean, GSSWSR (1987-2002); NASW President (1999-2001); Annie E. Casey Fellow (2002-2013)
Patrick T. McCarthy
PhD ’81
President and CEO, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Judith L. M. McCoyd
PhD ’03
Associate Professor, Rutgers University School of Social Work; research focus on trauma and bereavement
Suzanne M. McMurphy
MSS ’84, MLSP ’85, PhD ’93
Associate Professor, Social Work, University of Windsor; focus on community research
Justine McNamara
PhD ’04
Senior Research Fellow, NATSEM, University of Canberra
Susan A. Messina
AB ’86, MSS ’91, MLSP ’92
Social justice advocate and activist for LGBTQ issues and childbirth education
Honora Rose Miller
MSS ’99, MLSP ’99
Director,Commission on the Status of Women and the LGBTQ Commission, San Mateo County, CA
Judith Dabney Miller
MSS ’85, MLSP ’86
Associate Director, Women's Law Project
Tselane Mokuena
MSS ’94, MLSP ’94
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 ’49
Associate Professor Emerita, Temple University School of Social Administration; founder, Career Ladders Program; program host, WRTI
Anthony Morelli
MSS ’12
Director of Off-Site Programming, Peter's Place—a Center for Grieving Children
Alice Muludiang
MSS ’05, MLSP ’06
Advocate for Sudanese refugees in the US and for capacity building in South Sudan; board member, Global Education Motivators
Sabina N. Neem
MSS ’07, MLSP ’07
Associate Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Seattle University; Co-Chair, Seattle LGBT Commission
Sheila Nielsen, MSS ’73
President, Nielsen Career Counseling—executive coaching firm
Dolores G. Norton
MSS ’60, PhD ’69
Professor Emerita, University of Chicago School of Social Administration; first African American tenured professor at Bryn Mawr College
Ann O’Brien
MSS ’03, MLSP ’03
CEO, Montgomery Early Learning Centers; former Senior Vice President, United Way of Southeastern PA
Catherine Ormerod
MSS ’99, MLSP ’99
Founding director, Non-Profit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI), GSSWSR; Vice President Programs and Partnerships, Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC)
Cheryl Ann Parks
PhD ’97
Dean and Professor, Simmons College School of Social Work
Belle B. Parmet
MA ’40, CERT ’40
Former Director of Psychiatric Social Worker at Carrier Foundation; early pioneer in family therapy practice
Joan T. Pennell
PhD ’90
Professor of Social Work and Director of Center for Family and Community Engagement, North Carolina State University
Felice Perlmutter
PhD ’69
Professor Emeritus, Temple University School of Social Administration; pioneer in social work administration
Linda Cherrey Reeser
MSS ’60, PhD ’69
Professor, Director of BSW Program, Western Michigan University
Lawrence S. Root
MSS ’71
Professor and Director of Office of Global Activities, University of Michigan School of Social Work
Tawana Ford Sabbath
MSS ’71, PhD ’86
Community elder, clinician and mentor; local and national NABSW leader
Allyson Y. Schwartz
MSS ’72
Former PA US Representative and PA State Senator; President and CEO, Better Medicare Alliance
Deena Schwartz
MSS ’65
Social worker and advocate for persons and families dealing with longer-term intellectual disabilities
Nicholas C. Scull
MSS ’02
Clinical Director, Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute; Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean, American University of Kuwait
Carol Shapiro
MSS ’78
Founder and President of Family Justice, community centered re-entry program; Ashoka Fellow
Valerie Shapiro
MSS ’05
Assistant Professor, co-director of Center for Prevention Research, UC-Berkeley School of Social Welfare
Corey Shdaimah
PhD ’05
Associate Professor, Academic coordinator of MSW/JD program, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Edmund A. Sherman
PhD ’67
Professor Emeritus, SUNY-Albany School of Social Welfare
James H. Sills
PhD ’81
Former state representative, city councilman and two term mayor of Wilmington, DE
Paula T. Silver
PhD ’92
Dean and Professor, School of Professional Studies, Widener University
Basha A. Silverman
MSS ’12
Vice President for Strategic Planning, Jewish Family and Children's Services of Greater Philadelphia
Barbara L. Simon
MSS ’76, PhD ’81
Associate Professor, Columbia University School of Social Work
Rosa Lee Smith
MSS ’51
Retired counselor, LaSalle University, mentor to countless social workers; collaborator with Dr. Warren E. Smith, community psychiatrist
Deborah Spungen
MSS ’89, MLSP ’90
Founding Director of Families of Murder Victims and Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia
Harold E.Stafford
MSS ’73
Former Secretary of Labor, State of Delaware; more than 30 years of management of Delaware state agencies
Gail S. Steketee
MSS ’73, PhD ’87
Dean and Professor, Boston University School of Social Work
Patricia A. Stewart
MSS ’81
Advocate and national consultant on HIV/AIDS issues in the African American community; clinician and social work mentor
Jennifer Stotter
MSS ’99, PhD ’10
Director of EEO/AA, University of Hawaii at Hilo; former Director of AA/EEO, CVS Caremark Corporation
Emiko Anne Tajima
PhD ’99
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Washington School of Social Work
Tony Thurmond
MSS ’95, MLSP ’96
Representative, 15th Assembly District, California; former Richmond, CA, council member; youth services advocate
Niambi Robinson-Tillman
AB ’92, MSS ’94, MLSP ’95
Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dallas, TX
Theresa Peaches Valdes
AB ’99, MSS ’03, MLSP ’03
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Bryn Mawr College
Shirley Waites-Howard
MSS ’77
Social work educator, bereavement counselor and longtime community activist
Nina Wall-Cote
MSS ’00
Director, Bureau of Autism Services of the PA Department of Public Welfare
Bertha S. Waters
MSS ’79
Community advocate and activist for social justice and social change
Elizabeth Werthan
MSS ’73
Dedicated advocate for women's health and rights; former Executive Director of CHOICE and Board Chair of Women’s Way
Henry L. Westray
MSS ’74
Former State Coordinator and Chair, Maryland Governor's Commission on Suicide Prevention
Scott M. Wilson
MSS ’65, PhD ’76
Social work education consultant, Senior Educational Specialist, Division of Standards and Accreditation, Council on Social Work Education
Robert E. Young
MSS ’57
Retired Clinical Social Worker and Researcher, Eastern Virginia Medical School