School Updates
Sara Goodkind and her community partner MSW alumna Dr. Kathi Elliott, Director of Gwen’s Girls, were the inaugural recipients of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Community-Research Partnership Award.
Mary Rauktis won the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award.
Nev Jones won the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award.
Nev Jones was presented with the annual Academic Award by the NGO Students with Psychosis, was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), and was confirmed by Allegheny County Council as a member of the Allegheny County Mental Health & Intellectual Disabilities Board.
Ray Engel won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA).
Kyaien Conner, along with Pernille Røge from the Department of History, was funded via a Fulbright-Hays Award to the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Conner also was named one of the New Pittsburgh Courier’s 2025 Women of Excellence.
Kyaien Conner, Ron Idoko, Aliya Durham, Daniel Abusuampeh, and Milencia Saintus were awarded the Steven D. Manners Research Development Award from the University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR).
Deborah Moon was selected to participate in the National Institution of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for the 2024–2026 cycle.
Jaime Booth was selected for Pitt’s Community Engaged Scholarship Project Development Cohort.
Quinton Cotton was named by the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) and the Alzheimer’s Association as a recipient of the 2025 New Investigator Award Program and received the Rising Star Award from the Pitt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at the NACC Fall ADRC Meeting.
Leah Jacobs was appointed to the Allegheny County Safety and Justice Advisory Committee.
Henry Cantu, Director of Recruitment and Admissions, was elected to the National Deans and Directors of Social Work Admissions (NDDSWA) Board of Directors for 2024–2026.
Congratulations to Mechanicsburg Child Welfare Training Program staff for celebrating 20 years at Pitt: Christina M. Fatzinger, Jamie James, Maryann Fox Marchi, and Jody L. Price.
On July 25, 2025, Toya Jones was invited by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to serve as the plenary speaker at the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges Annual Meeting.
Mary Rauktis and Dr. Riju Sharma edited a new book Creating Successful Community and Academic Partnerships in Service-Learning: Case Studies from India and South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central and Latin America.
On August 17, 2025, Mayor Ed Gainey, with the authority of the Great Seal of the City of Pittsburgh, officially proclaimed the date as “Dr. Alexus P. Brown Day” This special honor recognizes Dr. Brown of CRSP for her contributions as a researcher, community member, and business owner, celebrating her dedication to advancing knowledge, supporting local communities, and fostering entrepreneurship in the city.
Toya Jones, Yodit Betru, and Jaime Booth (not pictured) won the 2024 Provost’s Award for Diversity in the Curriculum.
Allegheny County DHS honored Yodit Betru for Black History Month.
James Huguley was part of Pitt’s first signing day for startups for researcher-entrepreneurs. And, for his dedication to achieving societal benefit through commercial translation, Huguley and Parent Heart Inc. were selected as the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Startup of the Year for 2025.
Aliya Durham was selected for the 2025 Practitioner-Scholar Community (PSC) educational development program offered by the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) in partnership with Texas A&M University.
Toya Jones was named one of Pittsburgh’s Professional Women’s Network’s 2025 Ladies Who Lead awardees.