For 75 years, The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work has achieved excellence in education, anchored in rigorous science, social science, evidence-based practice and critical inquiry. Together, our faculty, students and alumni produce new knowledge and deliver public-spirited service that transforms lives on a grand scale and fulfills the university’s promise that “what starts here changes the world.” 

Anchored by our strategic plan, we have made key gains in external funding, behavioral health partnerships, faculty and staff investment, and international engagement, demonstrating strong institutional momentum. With sustained investment and continued strategic alignment, our school is well-positioned to achieve long-term goals, with the greatest opportunities centered on workforce development, behavioral health systems impact, and global collaboration.

In 2025, we celebrated our 75th year as a school and achieved new heights by establishing new endowed faculty chairs and professorships, setting up our students and alumni for success, earning recognitions for our academic excellence, and furthering social work education in Texas, the country, and the globe.

A full collection of our year’s accomplishments can be found below.

2024-25 Annual Report (Digital Version | Story Archive)

New Funding + Major Gift Highlights

New Faculty Appointments

Awards

Alumni Highlights

Student Highlights

2025 Timeline

NEW FUNDING + MAJOR GIFT HIGHLIGHTS

UT Social Work Establishes the Lori Holleran Steiker Endowed Faculty Chair in Substance Use and Recovery

The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work announced a transformative $3.5 million gift from Revolution Recovery (formerly known as Austin Recovery) to establish the Lori Holleran Steiker Endowed Faculty Chair in Substance Use and Recovery. This endowed chair will provide permanent support for excellence in research, teaching and programming focused on substance use, recovery and well-being.

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Estate of David Johnson Creates New Endowed Professorship in Social Work

A significant gift from the estate of Dr. David H. Johnson, a graduate of The University of Texas School of Social Work’s doctoral program, created the newest endowed professorship at the school and provided new scholarship funding for its doctoral students.

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Bevo and grads

Texas Social Work announces LCSW Scholarship Program for graduates 

Substantial funding from a private foundation removed one of the biggest barriers keeping talented social workers from reaching their full potential — and addressed Texas’s urgent need for more licensed mental health professionals. 

Twenty-seven scholarships supported recent graduates — with priority given to the 2024 class — through the complex licensure process that requires 100 clinical supervision hours and 3,000 hours of supervised work experience. Recipients receive comprehensive support that will cover LCSW supervision with board-approved supervisors, $3,300 annual stipends, exam preparation materials, and coverage of exam costs. The program addresses the financial reality that supervision alone typically costs graduates $3,600 out-of-pocket — a significant burden for new professionals already managing student debt. 

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Moritz Center for Societal Impact leads the Heart Galleries of Texas, a unique statewide partnership to improve child welfare

The Moritz Center for Societal Impact, housed within The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, leads the Heart Galleries of Texas, which is a one-of-a-kind collaboration established and funded $6 million annually by the Texas Legislature to leverage the expertise and resources of the Moritz Center.  The Legislature announced an extension of continued funding for this program for the next two years.

NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama, Ph.D., appointed as assistant professor at UT Social Work

Dr. Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama joined UT Social Work faculty as assistant professor of social work (tenure-track) in August 2025. As a psychologist with expertise in child and family wellbeing, evidence-based parenting interventions, and family dynamics, Dr. Fuentes-Balderrama brings demonstrated ability for teaching and mentoring on research methods and modeling, as well as statistical analysis. His research interests include evidence-based practices and clinical efficacy of parent training interventions, pre-existing family strengths and parenting practices, and the development and well-being of children and adolescents.

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Danielle Parrish

Dr. Danielle Parrish announced as Steve Hicks Professor in Addictions and Substance Abuse Services

Danielle Parrish, Ph.D., was appointed as Texas Social Work’s Steve Hicks Professor in Addictions and Substance Abuse Services in August 2025. A professor at Texas Social Work and associate director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT), Dr. Parrish’s research focuses on bridging the research-practice gap by developing and testing feasible and efficient behavioral health interventions and improving the implementation of empirically supported interventions. Her current work focuses on the prevention of alcohol and marijuana-exposed pregnancy for young women involved with juvenile probation.

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Dr. Rebecca Gomez announced as inaugural fellow for David Johnson Professorship in Social Work

Rebecca Gomez, Ph.D., was appointed as the inaugural fellow for the newly established David Johnson Professorship in Social Work. Dr. Gomez, who currently serves as the associate dean for academic affairs at Texas Social Work, is a leading researcher in the field of complex trauma and is nationally recognized for her work on child and family well-being.

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Fiona Conway

Dr. Fiona Conway announced as fellow for Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship in Services to Children and Families

Fiona Conway, Ph.D., was appointed as the newest fellow for Texas Social Work’s Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship in Services to Children and Families, effective August 2025.

Dr. Conway serves as assistant professor at Texas Social Work and associate director of research at the Addiction Research Institute. She also serves as director of adjunct affairs for Texas Social Work. Her research primarily focuses on substance use behaviors emphasizing recovery support services, digital health solutions, and substance use among adolescents and young adults.

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allan cole

Dean Allan Cole named Robert Lee Sutherland Endowed Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy

Allan Cole, dean of Texas Social Work, was appointed as the Robert Lee Sutherland Endowed Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. The role is named after Dr. Robert Lee Sutherland, who served as the first executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and supports scholars whose work focuses on mental health and social policy, continuing Sutherland’s legacy of integrating academic research with community impact. 

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Mary Velazquez

Mary Velasquez named inaugural holder of the Lori Holleran Steiker Endowed Faculty Chair in Substance Use and Recovery

Mary M. Velasquez, Ph.D., will serve as the inaugural holder of the Lori Holleran Steiker Chair. A behavioral scientist with more than 20 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Velasquez has conducted groundbreaking research on integrated primary care, screening and brief intervention, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, alcohol and drug misuse, prenatal health, HIV prevention, and smoking cessation.

AWARDS

Drs. John McNeil, David Springer named as NASW Social Work Pioneers

Former UT Social Work faculty members John McNeil and David Springer are among the newest class of Social Work Pioneers, as designated by the National Association of Social Workers Foundation. Drs. McNeil and Springer now comprise a total of 22 NASW Social Work Pioneers with ties to The University of Texas at Austin.

This group includes two Pioneers who are on UT Social Work’s current faculty: Cynthia Franklin, the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health, and Diana DiNitto, Distinguished Teaching Professor and the Cullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education.

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Dr. Catherine Cubbin wins 2025 GADE Faculty Award for Educational Leadership in Social Work Doctoral Education

The Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) announced Dr. Catherine Cubbin as the recipient of the 2025 Faculty Award for Educational Leadership in Social Work Doctoral Education.

Dr. Cubbin, who serves UT Social Work as the Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor in Community Safety, specializes in mentoring doctoral students in quantitative methods, specifically to better inform health and social policy. 

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Dr. Lailea Noel earns career award from Association of Oncology Social Work

Lailea Noel, Ph.D. received the 2025 Association of Oncology Social Work’s Quality of Life in Cancer Care Career Award, recognizing her significant contributions and dedication to quality-of-life care for cancer survivors.

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Danielle Parrish

Dr. Danielle Parrish Named to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare

UT Social Work professor Danielle Parrish, Ph.D., is among the newest inductees named to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), marking the eighth active faculty member at UT Social Work who is a member of the academy.

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Dr. Noël Busch-Armendariz receives national Textbook Excellence Award

Noël Busch-Armendariz, Ph.D., LMSW, MPA, and co-authors Maura Nsonwu, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW, and Laurie Cook Heffron, (Ph.D. ’15), (LMSW ’02), were recognized with a Textbook Excellence Award by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association for “Human Trafficking: Applying Research, Theory, and Case Studies for Social Workers and the Helping Professions.”

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TxCOPE partnership named 2025 Google Cloud Social Impact Partner of the Year for Crisis Response and Resilience

The Addiction Research Institute and its digital partner Ediven received the 2025 Google Cloud Social Impact Partner of the Year Award for Crisis Response and Resilience for the groundbreaking platform Texans Connecting Overdose Prevention Efforts (TxCOPE), recognizing its innovative approach to addressing the opioid crisis.

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Headshot of Cynthia Franklin

Cynthia Franklin and Texas Social Work named as best SFBT research leaders

A new analysis from the American Journal of Family Therapy named The University of Texas at Austin as the best research institution for solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) and Cynthia Franklin, Ph.D., LCSW-S, LMFT, as the top SBFT researcher in the world. Two of Dr. Franklin’s mentees, Texas Social Work graduates Johnny Kim (Ph.D. 2006) and Anao Zhang (Ph.D. 2018), were listed as the No. 2 and No. 3 SFBT researchers, respectively.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Dr. Lataya Hawkins (Ph.D. ’21) appointed Dean of Army Graduate School

COL. Dr. Lataya Hawkins (Ph.D. ’21), LCSW-S, BCD, has been appointed Dean of the Graduate School at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence (MEDCoE) at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio — a role that places her at the helm of one of the most comprehensive allied health education systems in the military. In November 2024, Hawkins was promoted to full colonel in the United States Army — joining an elite group of only 10 full colonel social workers across the entire Army. 

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Two-time alum Laurie Cook Heffron named 2025 Social Worker of the Year by NASW Texas

Two-time UT Social Work alum Laurie Cook Heffron (MSSW ’02, Ph.D. ’15) was named the 2025 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers, Texas Chapter.

This marks the third consecutive year that NASW Texas has named a Texas Social Work alum to one of their annual awards. In 2023, NASW Texas named Shane Whalley (MSSW ’03) as Social Worker of the Year, and in 2024, they awarded Ruth Fagen-Wiley (Ph.D. ‘95) a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Texas Social Work establishes new national Alumni Association Board

The newly established School of Social Work Alumni Association Board will help create a more dynamic and engaged alumni community across the nation, consisting of nine esteemed alumni members.

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS

BSW students Phoebe Cosgrove, Andres Yengel selected for inaugural Texas Trailblazers leadership program

Two Texas Social Work students are a part of the inaugural Texas Trailblazers: Gay Gaddis Leadership Program, a new program that trains undergraduate students for leadership.

The students, Phoebe Cosgrove and Andres Yengel, spent 14 weeks during the Fall 2025 semester in workshops with accomplished business leaders including founder and entrepreneur Gay Gaddis; as well as developing a lifetime network amongst an ambitious group of peers. They are among just forty student leaders selected from the Forty Acres to be a part of this program.

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MSSW Student Skyler Hamilton Found Her Path at Texas Social Work

Skyler Hamilton, a first-generation college student in the MSSW program at Texas Social Work, found her calling in social work through personal experiences. Her journey from foster care to becoming an advocate for substance use disorder policy represents the transformative power of education and strategic philanthropy.

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Tackling the Overdose Crisis: Jake Samora’s Research Makes a Difference

Doctoral student Matthew “Jake” Samora’s research connects communities to save lives and transforms health outcomes. As a research staff member at the Addiction Research Institute, Jake Samora contributed to the development of TxCOPE (Texans Connecting Overdose Prevention Efforts), an innovative digital platform designed to improve data collection on overdose incidents throughout Texas. What makes his approach distinctive is his commitment to community-engaged research methods, bringing together diverse stakeholders, including outreach providers, first responders, as well as people who use drugs.

2025 TIMELINE

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