Directors
Siyon Rhee, Ph.D., MSW
Director | Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Systems-ecological factors including race/ethnicity, immigration, intergenerational disparities, and multi-cultural practices influences on health, mental health, and families in the Asian American community
Ga-Young Choi, Ph.D., MSW
Associate Director | Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Domestic violence/intimate partner violence (IPV), secondary traumatic stress of helping professionals, the well-being of ethnic minorities and immigrants focusing on Asian Americans and Pacific Islander
Maria Y. Hernandez, Ph.D., LCSW
BASW Program Director | Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Consumer health informatics, the use of social media to evaluate and disseminate mental health literacy, evaluations of technological tools to enhance patient and provider communication, analysis of health policies impacting individuals living with serious mental illness
Tasha Willis, EdD, MSW
MSW Program Director | Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Nexus of social justice, international education, campus climate
Mohammad Tirmazi, Ph.D., MSW
MSW-ASP Program Director | Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Impact of acculturation on the psychological functioning and behavioral health of Muslim youth and emerging adults in the United States, the risk and resiliency among African American urban youth and young adults, utilization of the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
Hermila Melero, MSW, LCSW
Practicum Education Director
[email protected]
Research interests: Practicum education, trauma, addiction, re-entry population
Full Professors
Sofya Bagdasaryan, Ph.D., MSW
Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Policy analysis, macro practice, research methods, evaluating social welfare policies, programs, and services for families involved in the public child welfare system
Ga-Young Choi, Ph.D., MSW
Associate Director | Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Domestic violence/intimate partner violence (IPV), secondary traumatic stress of helping professionals, the well-being of ethnic minorities and immigrants focusing on Asian Americans and Pacific Islander
Anh-Luu Huynh-Hohnbaum
Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: juvenile delinquency, parental incarceration, multiracial families, cross-cultural competency
Colleen Friend
The Director of the Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute | Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Student background issues, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, trauma, and forensic issues
Tasha Willis, EdD, MSW
MSW Program Director | Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Nexus of social justice, international education, campus climate
Valentine Villa, Ph.D.
Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Health disparities, social determinants of health across the life course, minority gaining, public policy
Evaon Wong
Full Professor
On Leave
Research interests: Minority and low-income breast cancer patients especially the Asian immigrant population, cancer survivorship and quality of life issues confronting the Chinese immigrant breast cancer patients
Associate Professors
Jieru Bai, Ph.D., MSW
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Program evaluation, acculturation and health, population that experiences cultural change, such as immigrants, refugees, international students, and internationally adopted children
Maria Y. Hernandez, Ph.D., LCSW
BASW Program Director | Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Consumer health informatics, the use of social media to evaluate and disseminate mental health literacy, evaluations of technological tools to enhance patient and provider communication, analysis of health policies impacting individuals living with serious mental illness
Joanna Karczewska, Ph.D., MSW
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Financial capability and asset building (FCAB), community organizing, qualitative research methods, service learning
James Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Child welfare recidivism, screened-out / evaluated families, client engagement, differential response, families with complex needs, data-driven decision-making, intersectionality, international social work, racial disparities, and matching needs and services to prevent child maltreatment.
Assistant Professors
Seth Kurzban, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Criminal justice, homelessness, mental illness and health, social interventions
Jia-Lin Liu, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Institutional racism to cultural competency, culturally competent social work practice, community organizing, understandings of Chinese immigrant families – their negotiations, perceptions, marginalities, and experiences of contemporary US immigration and education
Emeriti Professors
Joanne Altschuler, Ph.D., LCSW
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Adult children and aging parents; clinical social work practice with individuals, couples, families, and groups; economic, social, and political concerns; employment and older adults; gender issues and aging; grief and loss; HIV/AIDS and older adults; older women's issues: sexuality, caring responsibilities.
E. Frederick Anderson, Ph.D., LCSW
Emeritus Professor, Founding Director, School of Social Work and MSW Program
[email protected]
Research interests: Administration/analysis of complex organizations; African American father issues; aging; child welfare; developmental disabilities, forensic mental health; social policy and critique of policy/practice.
Shirley Better, DSW
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Analysis of social welfare policy; community organization; institutional racism; social work in minority communities; women's issues.
Philip Carter, MSW
Emeritus Professor
Neil A. Cohen, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: After I retired in 2002 and FERPED through 2005, I have been working as an Expert Witness in the field of child welfare. I've been involved in seven law suits since 2004 involving three county child welfare agencies and plaintiffs for whom I've served as an expert witness.
Connie Saltz Corley, Ph.D., LCSW
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Aging, caregivers, interdisciplinary teams, mind-body-spirit wellness
Alfredo Gonzalez, DSW
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
Dale Weaver, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor
[email protected]
FERP Professors
Roger Delgado, Ph.D., LCSW
Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Dr. Delgado specializes in gerontology, medical social work consultant, multicultural social work practice, psychotherapy with older adults, and social work practice with groups.
Colleen Friend
The Director of the Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute | Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Student background issues, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, trauma, and forensic issues
Retired Professors
