Kia J. Bentley burnishes legacy with new textbook edition, FSU alumni award
Even in retirement, Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D., is continuing to build on her 35-year career as a social work educator, one that culminated in her being named the VCU School of Social Work’s first Distinguished Career Professor by VCU’s Provost in 2022. This past fall, the fifth edition of Dr. Bentley’s textbook, The Social Worker […]
Grandfather’s need for aging-in-place resources inspires award-winning research from doc student Sunny Kim
The origin of VCU social work Ph.D. candidate Seon “Sunny” Kim’s dissertation dates to the Korean War, deeply personal work that is receiving national recognition. The Korean American Social Work Educators Association in the fall honored Kim’s dissertation work with its Outstanding Dissertation Proposal Award for contributions to aging research, policy and practice. “As a […]
In lifelong quest to reduce violence, Ph.D. alumni award winner McLeod was ‘empowered to grow’ at VCU
As David McLeod, Ph.D., thinks about his time at Virginia Commonwealth University, his reflections turn to the people and culture that accepted and poured into a doctoral student with an atypical background. A place where both his daughters were born, bookending his time in Richmond. No wonder, then, that he uses a parental analogy when […]
‘Harmonious’ alignment: Ph.D. student Katie Kim selected for national Minority Fellowship Program
Katie Kim’s selection as a doctoral fellow for the Council on Social Work Education’s Minority Fellowship Program is another step in her journey – to the United States, to discovering social work and to finding her niche in researching the impacts of adverse childhood experiences. Kim, a second-year doctoral student at the VCU School of […]
‘Challenging and exhilarating’: Meet the 2023-24 social work Ph.D. cohort
The VCU School of Social Work’s Ph.D. Program welcomes four new students for the Fall 2023 cohort. They are Why did you choose to pursue a Ph.D., and why was the VCU School of Social Work your choice? Kade GoldinI chose to pursue a Ph.D. in hopes of learning how to conduct research that could […]
Summer program fuels Ph.D. student Paola Roldán’s work on gender equality
Paola Roldán, a rising third-year doctoral student at the School of Social Work, spent three weeks this summer in the 2023 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods at the University of Michigan, thanks to a diversity scholarship she received this spring. The scholarship enables graduate students to receive additional skills in quantitative analysis. “Having this […]
‘Confident in my abilities’: What’s next for four social work Ph.D. graduates
Four Ph.D. candidates graduated from the VCU School of Social Work in May 2023. Here’s a snapshot of their experiences and what’s next. Sunghwan Cho, Ph.D. Assistant professor in the School of Social Welfare at the Catholic University of Korea. What was your favorite or most surprising moment during your time in the doctoral program?My […]
Honoring student excellence for 2022-23
The VCU School of Social Work is pleased to recognize the academic and service excellence of nearly 250 students as we close the 2022-2023 academic year. Honors include major national awards through the VCU Scholarship Office, VCU and School of Social Work annual awards, Phi Alpha Honor Society inductees, and B.S.W. students who earned Dean’s […]
National fellowships support Ph.D. student Muna Saleh’s drive to improve outcomes for resettling refugees
Living in a community of Somali refugees in Rochester, Minnesota, Muna Saleh experienced the collective trauma of resettlement, though it was rarely talked about. “Growing up in a refugee household, nestled in a larger refugee community, it kind of became a norm, some of the ways that trauma presented itself,” says Saleh, a rising third-year Ph.D. […]
Farewell: Sarah K. Price, Ph.D.
Sarah Kye Price, Ph.D., M.S.W., M.S., M.Div., participated in one final Commencement celebration at VCU after 17 years watching students walk across the stage and into the world to make a real, tangible difference in the lives of clients and communities. VCU awarded Dr. Price the honorary designation of Distinguished Career Professor in May 2023. […]