Introducing Denise Burnette, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair in Social Work
After a rigorous national search, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Denise Burnette, Ph.D. as the Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair in Social Work.
Denise joins the School of Social Work from Columbia University where she served in education, research and administrative leadership roles for 25 years. She has held Fulbright fellowships at Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai and the Centre for Research on HIV and AIDS at the University of Botswana and has contributed to building capacity in social work education and research in Albania, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Mongolia and Moldova. Denise is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Gerontological Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine. Her research interests include health, mental health and psychosocial problems of older adults, particularly in the context of changing social structures in low-resources settings.
Denise holds a B.A. in Psychology, a B.S. in Philosophy, an M.S.S.W. from the University of Tennessee, an international Masters in Global Mental Health Policy and Services from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.
Please join me in welcoming Denise to the VCU community.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the search committee members who served in the screening process—Mary Katherine O’Connor, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work professor emeritus, Betsy Farmer, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work professor and associate dean for research, Patricia Aldredge, Ph.D., Champlain College Division of Education and Human Studies associate professor, Crystal Coles, Ph.D., project coordinator for the MIECHV Expansion Project, Cory Cummings, VCU School of Social Work doctoral student, Paul Gerber, Ph.D., VCU School of Education Ruth Harris Professor of Dyslexia Studies, Sarah Kye Price, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work associate professor and Sunny Shin, Ph.D., VCU School of Social Work associate professor.
Jim Hinterlong, dean and professor
VCU School of Social Work
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