Professors Cynthia Franklin and Mary Marden Velasquez were inducted into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare during public ceremonies at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) in New Orleans, January 13, 2017.

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) was established in 2010 by the leading national social work organizations to strengthen the field’s capacity for rigorous analysis that can guide effective human services policies, programs, and practices, is intended to encourage and recognize outstanding research, scholarship, and practice that contribute to a sustainable, equitable, and just future.

“The Fellows of the Academy are all strong leaders in integrating scientific methods and social work practice and policy and an enormous resource for the field. I am delighted that 15 more fellows will be inducted as this will significantly strengthen the range and impact of our work to address the grand challenges facing our society,” said AASWSW President Richard Barth, Dean of the University of Maryland, School of Social Work.

Cynthia Franklin is associate dean for doctoral education and the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health. She is a world-renowned scholar in school mental health with expertise in the practice and effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy with children and adolescents. She is the current editor-in chief for the Encyclopedia of Social Work, and the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and several books including, The School Services Sourcebook: A Guide for School-based Professionals and Solution Focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-base Practice.

Mary Marden Velasquez is director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute and the Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional and Corporate Excellence. She is an expert in the development and implementation of interventions using the Transtheoretical Model and Motivational Interviewing. With over 20 years of support from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Velasquez has developed and studied behavioral interventions in the areas of integrated primary care, screening and brief interventions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, alcohol and other drug abuse, prenatal health, HIV prevention, and smoking cessation.

Other elected members from the School of Social Work include Ruth McRoy (2010), Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor Emerita; Barbara White (2010), Dean Emerita; Diana DiNitto (2012),  Cullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education; Luis Zayas (2012), dean and  Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy; Namkee Choi (2013),  Louis and Ann Woolens Centennial Chair in Gerontology; Rowena Fong (2013), Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor in Services to Children and Families; and Yolanda Padilla (2013), Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor in Child Welfare. King Davis (2010) and Allen Rubin (2010) were inducted while on the faculty at the School of Social Work.