The FSU College of Social Work (CSW) celebrated its 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award and Student Scholarship recipients through a virtual event on Thursday, November 5, 2020. The event was hosted by Dean Jim Clark and faculty members who serve on the college’s Student Affairs Committee.

The event honored 90 outstanding student scholars. Scholarship awards, totaling more than $97,000, were given in support of CSW students, including those studying international programs, child welfare, social policy, and veterans.

The five CSW Alumni Award recipients included:

Distinguished Emeritus Alumni Award: Richard King

Richard M. King earned his Master of Social Work degree in 1969. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Dominican University. With more than forty years of non-profit leadership experience, Richard is a nationally known search executive and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kittleman. Before leading Kittleman, he served as CEO of three charities, including a network of primary care facilities, a statewide association for youth and a comprehensive youth agency. Richard is also the founding member of the National Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants. He established the Richard M. King Scholarship in Social Work and Business Administration at FSU to encourage graduate FSU social work students who demonstrate an interest in social work and business to pursue electives through the FSU College of Business.

Distinguished Young Alumni Award: Justin McClain

Justin McClain graduated with his MSW with a clinical concentration (2012) and is a licensed clinical social worker and qualified supervisor in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from the University of Central Florida. After graduation he worked at Capital City Youth Services, Camelot Community Based Care’s therapeutic foster care program, and with the Pinellas County Schools as a school social worker. As a witness and survivor of trauma and domestic violence, Justin established his own private practice, Home Again Counseling while still serving as a school social worker to fill a need for services for adopted children leaving the foster care system. He counsels adolescents, families and parents who have experienced violence and trauma. He serves on the board of directors of Community Action Stops Abuse, also chairing their advocacy and awareness committee. He is also a mentor and coach with 5,000 Role Models of Excellence Project and is a committee member for the Pinellas County Fatherhood Collaborative.

Distinguished Social Work Educator Alumni Award: Diana DiNitto

Diana DiNitto is a two-time graduate of the Florida State University, earning an MSW degree (1974) and a doctoral degree in political science (1980). Dr. DiNitto is a distinguished teaching professor and the Cullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She is also an affiliate faculty member at the Women’s and Gender Studies Department and American Studies Department at UT Austin. Her research and teaching focus on social welfare policies, substance use and violence against women. Dr. DiNitto has published several books, including Social Welfare: Politics and Public Policy (8th ed.), Essentials of Social Welfare: Politics and Public Policy, Chemical Dependency: A Systems Approach (4th ed.), and Social Work: Issues and Opportunities in a Challenging Profession (3rd ed.).

Distinguished Social Work Practice Alumni Award: Mary Freeman

Mary Freeman is a two-time graduate of Florida State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education (1969) and her Master of Social Work degree in 1985. She is a licensed clinical social work and practices in Central Florida. Mary recently retired from Shands Medical Center as a hospital social worker, where she worked with pediatric heart transplant patients and their families. She wrote a children’s book called Red’s True Heart, which addresses the challenges families facing a possible heart transplant. The book emphasizes the emotion aspect, providing a launching point for family discussions about their feelings and coping during a difficult process. 

Distinguished Social Policy and Administration Alumni Award: Robert Kevin Grigsby

Robert Kevin Grigsby earned his MSW at Florida State (1981) and his doctoral degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania (1990). He has served in several faculty and administrative roles at the university-level including as a faculty member at the University of Georgia, as Vice Dean of Administration and Research at the Medical College of Georgia, followed by ten years as Vice Dean for Faculty and Administration for the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. For more than a decade, he has most recently served as the senior administrator for the Association of America Medical Colleges.