Alumni & Friends

Faculty member Janet Berry retired at the end of this summer to begin a new chapter in her life.  On top of being an alumna of the FSU College of Social Work, Janet has been a long-time faculty member at the College, taking on various roles and responsibilities.  Included among these roles were the development of the online MSW degree program and the online Leadership in Executive and Administrative Development (LEAD) Certificate Program as well as coordinating and designing the Capstone Assignment for Field Seminars.

Over the summer a permanent legacy to honor Dr. Wendy P. Crook (pictured right) and her family was established in the form of the endowed Violet Crook Graduate Scholarship. In November 2006, Dr. Crook pledged a donation to begin the scholarship. Tragically, Dr. Crook passed away in October 2007 at age 55 from cancer before the scholarship could be endowed.

Elizabeth Koalska Piccard, better known as Betty, was a valued faculty member of the College of Social Work from 1965 until 1993, serving for many years as the Undergraduate Program Director. Recently, on August 29, 2013 she died peacefully in her sleep in Tallahassee, a place she called home since 1953.

The family of Mrs. Julie Hawes Matthews honored the memory of their mother with a generous donation of to three FSU programs – the College of Social Work, the College of Nursing and the Department of Interior Design.

“I did my initial field placement in gerontology and it was right after my dad died. He was an older gentleman and I really saw the need. Social workers are always talking about those personal experiences and I had that experience and decided that was the way I wanted to go,” Victoria (Vicky) Thomas reflected when seated at her desk at Elder Day Stay, a facility run by Elder Care Services, Inc. in Tallahassee, Florida.

The fall 2013 semester marked the beginning of a new tradition recognizing five distinguished graduates from the College of Social Work at the annual student scholarship dinner.  The College’s commitment to service lives on through its students and alumni, exemplified by the five special people acknowledged at this year’s dinner, including the Distinguished Emeritus Alumni Award (Joyce Laidlaw), Distinguished Young Alumni Award (Dana Morris-Brooks), Distinguished Field Educator Award (Sharon Maxwell-Ferguson), Distinguished Alumni in Social Work Practice Award (Jeanene J

Florida State’s Graduate School held its first Three Minute Thesis competition on February 25^th in front of a live audience on the main Tallahassee campus.  Developed by The University of Queensland in Australia, this research communication competition challenges doctoral student competitors to present a comprehensive and captivating oration on their dissertation topic and its significance in three minutes or less.  Popularity for the competition has spread across the globe and is held in numerous graduate schoo

The Institute for Family Violence Studies in Florida State University’s College of Social Work has partnered with the Center for Public Safety Innovation at St. Petersburg College to create a Spanish-language version of an online training program to prevent domestic violence in the homes of law enforcement officers.

The Spanish-language online training went live March 17 and is free to all law enforcement agencies in Puerto Rico.

At the conclusion of the spring 2014 semester the College of Social Work will bid farewell to long-time faculty member Karen Keroack.  For over 28 years Karen has served as an invaluable member of the faculty, acting as an instructor and area coordinator for the Gainesville Part-Time MSW Program.

Dr. Maxine Thurston Fischer quietly made history at FSU in 1964 when she became the first African-American student to receive a degree from the University, graduating with her Master’s in Social Work.  But her contributions to the University and the College of Social Work didn’t stop there. Her degree was a catalyst for a lifetime dedication to social work and social activism.