Keithen Mathis, MSW associate dean for Culture and Community Engagement and teaching professor at the College of Social Work, was awarded the 2025 FSU Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Distinguished Service Award. Awards were presented on Tuesday, January 14th, at the MLK Awards and Golden Torch Lecture Series, presenting Ziwe Fumudoh, a Nigerian American author and comedian, during FSU’s 37th annual MLK Week.
FSU College of Social Work (FSU CSW) participated in the 2025 Society for Social Work and Research Conference in Seattle, Washington. From January 15-19, faculty and doctoral students and affiliates from the Florida Institute for Child Welfare presented more than 40 presentations and sessions at the conference (listed below with FSU CSW participants).
After 33 years of dedicated service, longtime FSU College of Social Work faculty member Professor Neil Abell will retire at the end of the fall 2024 semester. He has served the college not only as a dedicated faculty member but also as a leader. He has been director of the college’s International Programs since 2011 when he took over for fellow faculty member Pat Lager.
A recent study in the journal Healthcare led by Assistant Professor Dr. Gashaye Tefera and colleagues from the University of Missouri, University of Minnesota and Notre Dame of Maryland University shared insight into the experiences of African immigrant women when accessing primary healthcare in the United States.
Dr. Shalay Jackson was awarded the 2024 Educator of the Year for the Big Bend region of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Maura’s Voice Research Fund (MVRF) at the Florida State University (FSU) College of Social Work and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are renewing their partnership established in 2023 to perform research into the extremist elements of misogynistic subculture, including potentially violent incels, who continue their often-deadly attacks on women and girls in the US and around and the world.
A recent article by Dr. Quichang (Katy) Cao, an assistant professor at the FSU College of Social Work, and co-authors from Rutgers University, Natalie Pope and Dr. Emily Greenfield, was published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
Dr. Carol Campbell Edwards, an associate teaching professor and director of the BSW and Professional Development Programs at the College of Social Work, serves as the National Association of Social Workers Board Director for Region VII, serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Assistant Professor Dr. Kristy Anderson was recently awarded a $110K+ grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to conduct an Autism Secondary Data Analysis on the economic and healthcare impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families.
“Early parenthood is associated with risk factors for both the mother and child and involvement in foster care amplifies these challenges,” stated Esaa Mohammad Sabti Samarah, a doctoral candidate at the FSU College of Social Work.
