We are proud of our alumni and the positive impact they are making in their communities. Submit your recent news here. ’88 Terri Spahr Nelson, BSW ’87; MSSW ’88: One of my longtime endeavors is being the owner of a small publishing company that focuses on resources for sexual assault and trauma survivors and professionals–a […]
People
Why your support matters: Destiny Ayala, BSW ’22
Destiny Ayala, a BSW student and a SWEEP mentor, was awarded a Social Work Education Enhancement Program (SWEEP) Mentor Scholarship this past year. This scholarship is granted by the school to exceptional SWEEP mentors and is funded by donors. As a SWEEP mentor, Destiny walks alongside first-year BSW students, helping them acclimate to the Steve […]
Dominique McGaha: On international social work and empowering others
It’s nighttime in South Africa, but Dominique McGaha, a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) student, is not winding down for the evening. After a day of working in her second field placement, it is now class time for her. But Dominique embraces the busy and exciting season she’s in. After all, the international […]
Welcoming Dean Allan Cole
The Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) is already renowned among the top 10 schools of social work in the country according to U.S. News and World Reports. But we’re not done yet. Dr. Allan Cole, recently appointed to serve as the seventh Dean of the school, has big dreams for the SHSSW, namely, […]
Removing the stigma of addiction
Megan and Matthew Szabo Endowed Excellence Fund at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Liz Pires thought it odd when spoons started vanishing from her kitchen. She asked her teenage children, Matt and Megan, to please put used spoons in the sink or dishwasher and make sure they were not accidentally throwing them with […]
Why your support matters: Norma Jaramillo, BSW ’21
Norma Jaramillo graduated in the top 7% of her high school class in Lockhart, Texas. Still, she didn’t think she could go to college. “My family couldn’t afford it,” she said. But when her 12th grade culinary teacher, a UT Austin alum, encouraged her to pursue higher education, Jaramillo decided to take a chance. She […]
Spring 2021 Class Notes
We are proud of our alumni and the positive impact they are making in their communities. Submit your recent news here. In memoriam John Henry Lindell, MSSW ’57 (1930-2021) ’81 Arlene Robinson, BSW ‘81, has retired. ’82 Gary Bachman, MSSW ‘82, is a professor of social work at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. Gary […]
Fall 2020 Class Notes
We are proud of our alumni and the positive impact they are making in their communities. Submit your recent news here. ‘73 Adolfo Reyes, MSSW ‘73, is working on a contract-basis serving hospice and home health clientele in the Rio Grande Valley. He turned 74 this year. ‘78 Chris Finch, BSW ‘78, has spent his […]
Spring 2020 Class Notes
We are proud of our alumni and the positive impact they are making in their communities. Submit your recent news here. ’68 Mary Ellen Branan, MSSW ’68, received her PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Houston in 1991. She has published a poetry collection, Weavings (Blue Light Press, 2011), which won […]
Supporting doctoral students
Sherry Miller Melecki Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Social Work Sherry Melecki interacts daily with doctoral students through her job as graduate program coordinator at the Steve Hicks School. Since 2008, when she started, she has helped shepherd 94 doctoral students towards graduation. “It is exciting to see the students come in, so full of ideas […]
