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In Brief: August / September 2022

Wheeler Named President of SUNY New Paltz

Upon the recommendation of the State University of New York Interim Chancellor Deborah F. Stanley, the SUNY board of trustees has appointed former NASW President Darrell P. Wheeler, PhD, MPH, ACSW, president of SUNY New Paltz.

“We are impressed with Dr. Wheeler’s abilities and spirit, and all of us believe he will be a great leader for SUNY New Paltz,” said SUNY trustee James F. Haddon.

“His extensive time dedicated to addressing health care disparities for minority groups, serving on the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and creating foster care mentoring programs clearly demonstrates his passion for equity and inclusion. His commitment to improving higher education, along with  his history of advocacy, has us anticipating seeing his unique lens unfold at SUNY New Paltz,” Haddon said.

Wheeler has more than 30 years of research and community partnership experience in health disparities and extensive scholarly work with local and national Black men who have sex with men (MSM) communities.

Morhardt Appointed to State Commission on Elder Law

NASW member Darby Morhardt, PhD, LCSW, has been appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law. The commission will help the Illinois Supreme Court more effectively address the needs and legal issues of older adults in Illinois, particularly those living with dementia and their families.

“I am honored to be given this opportunity to apply my 38 years of working with older adults, primarily persons living with cognitive impairment and their families, to the Illinois Supreme Court to better serve the needs of this vulnerable population,” Morhardt stated in a campus news update issued by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she has a dual appointment as research professor in the Division of Public Health Practice (Preventive Medicine) and in the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Morhardt also directs the Mesulam Center’s Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core and Quality of Life Programs.

Swords Receives Excellence Award from American Society on Aging

NASW Texas Chapter member Sarah Swords received the American Society on Aging’s Gloria Cavanaugh Award for Excellence in Training and Education at ASA’s national conference earlier this year.

Swords works in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin as the assistant dean for master’s programs and as a clinical associate professor. She also directs Gerontology Resources and the Aging Community in Education (GRACE), a field education initiative that addresses the workforce shortage in social work and aging.

As GRACE director, Swords has secured repeated funding from the Austin-based St. David’s Foundation for student fellowships and educational enrichment experiences, including enabling 60 MSW students to participate in the ASA conference over a six-year period.

Social Work Advocates Flipbook

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