Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH
Backstory
By Sue Coyle
Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH, maintains a career that is dedicated to both social work and public health, a fact that is evident in the many positions he holds now and has held previously. Currently, Lindsey is the dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work at New York University School of Social Work, an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow, president of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, and a member of the New York City Board of Health. Lindsey sits on several editorial boards for journals and has been a part of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Community Services Task Force and the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide.
When Lindsey began his career, however, he thought he would become a lawyer. Instead, he “became attracted to social work and public health for its applied orientation, the fact that there were interventions or strategies to be brought to bear that would be in the service of communities/populations in need of those supports,” he says. “Being able to meet the needs directly in a very tangible, practical way is what first attracted me to social work and public health. And since that time, I feel like I use both of those brains, if you will, every day.”
Lindsey adds that the path he has taken has been driven by mentorship. “Based on the kinds of questions I’ve always asked or the context and nature of my writing, I’ve had professors or mentors pour into me and really introduce to me the opportunities to further my education, because they imparted in me that I had the opportunity to make a difference,” he recalls. “The one who stands out for me most is Dr. Lawrence Gary. He sort of revolutionized my thoughts and helped me gain a lot of clarity about my next steps.”
While Lindsey’s career has included a variety of roles, the theme that has stuck with him the most is the challenge of engaging adolescents in treatment, a theme that is apparent in what he is most proud of career-wise: leading the working group of experts who were a part of the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide. “It felt like the culmination of years of hard work to really address the challenges that Black youth had with respect to engaging in treatment.”
When not working, Lindsey golfs. “It’s the only place I can go where the world stops. It’s really my Zen.”