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News Archive

  • The Network of Korean-American Leaders (NetKAL) Fellowship Program graduated its first class of 24 fellows at a gala event at USC Town and Gown on Sept. 29, with renowned diversity expert Angela Oh delivering the keynote address. The ceremony was the culmination of six weekend workshops focused on leadership training, networking and a community-oriented group project -- all tailored for up-and-coming Korean-American leaders from local civic, political and business organizations.

  • Twenty-three master's degree students from the USC School of Social Work traveled with Professors Annalisa Enrile and Valerie Richards to the Philippines for the first-ever Feminist Theory, Social Action and Social Work seminar this past summer. The program, offered at the University of the Philippines, Dilliman, taught participants about the feminist perspective in social work and its influence in facilitating social change.

  • Kristin M. Ferguson, assistant professor of social work, was selected as the inaugural winner of the Frank Turner Award for best article in International Social Work, the official publication of the International Association of Schools of Social Work, the International Council on Social Welfare and the International Federation of Social Workers.

  • Ron Avi Astor, a professor who holds joint positions in the USC School of Social Work and USC Rossier School of Education, was given the second place distinction by the American Psychological Association's Division One 2006 William James Book Award. The accolade, which honors outstanding scientific volume in general psychology across specialty areas, was awarded to Astor along with co-author Rami Benbenishty of Hebrew University for their book School Violence in Context: Neighborhood, Family, School and Gender, published by Oxford University Press in 2005.

  • Kathleen Ell, the Ernest P. Larson Professor of Health, Ethnicity and Poverty at the USC School of Social Work, has received a $250,000 grant from the California Health Care Foundation to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a program designed to improve depression care among low-income ethnic minority patients with congestive heart failure.

  • By Athan G. Bezaitis

    On Sept. 25, the USC School of Social Work hosted nine officials from the China National Committee on Aging whose representatives are among the most powerful government officials in China dealing with issues of aging.

    The morning began with a tour of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. There, the visitors were welcomed by Zhen Cong, a Chinese-speaking representative of the office of Professor Merril Silverstein, who conducts research on aging in China.

  • WHAT: The Network of Korean American Leaders (NetKAL) Fellowship Program, which promotes community-based leadership, is graduating its first class of 24 fellows from the Los Angeles Korean-American community. NetKAL recruits emerging Korean-American leaders from civic, political and business sectors to give them access to the resources they will need to pursue their goals, build coalitions and communicate effectively as empowered leaders at all levels of American society.

  • Along with the new academic semester comes a new roster of faces and administrative changes this year at the USC School of Social Work. At the helm remains Marilyn Flynn, whose deanship has been renewed for a third term.

  • June Simmons, MSW '70, was aggravated by the immorality and inefficiency of the nation's health care system. But instead of complaining, she turned her frustration into action, and at age 55, established the Partners in Care Foundation to devise new ways of delivering health care. Eight years later, not only has her organization grown tenfold, but she's gaining even more repute as a finalist for The Purpose Prize, which honors social entrepreneurs in their second half of life who are marshalling their accumulated experience to address critical social problems.

  • Janet Schneiderman, assistant professor of social work, recently won a grant from the Children and Families Research Consortium to examine the issues foster children caregivers face in accessing and using pediatric health services.