FACULTY

Siyon Rhee, Ph.D., MSW
School of Social Work Director | Full 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
School of Social Work 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

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

James Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
MSW 2-Year & 3-Year Program Director | 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.

Tirmazi Mohammad, Ph.D., MSW
MSW-ASP Program Director | Full 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

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
School of Social Work 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

Joanna Karczewska, Ph.D., MSW
Full Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Financial capability and asset building (FCAB), community organizing, qualitative research methods, service learning

Tirmazi Mohammad, Ph.D., MSW
MSW-ASP Program Director | Full 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)

Siyon Rhee, Ph.D., MSW
School of Social Work Director | Full 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

Tasha Willis, EdD, MSW
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, aging minorities, public policy

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

James Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
MSW 2-Year & 3-Year Program Director | 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.

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

E. Frederick Anderson, Ph.D., LCSW
Emeritus Professor
Founding Director of 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

Colleen Friend
Emeritus Professor
The Director of the Child Abuse and Family Violence Institute
[email protected]
Research interests: Student background issues, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, trauma, and forensic issues