Faculty Printable PDF

By attracting and supporting a world-class faculty with the unique ability to conduct and translate academic research into action and positive social outcomes, the School of Social Work provides its students an unmatched opportunity for education and application at one of the top schools of its kind in the nation.

Our faculty is one of the most diverse in The University of Texas at Austin, with a wide range of expertise in many topics including: mental illness, substance abuse, health behavior interventions, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, child welfare, aging, grief and loss, and juvenile justice. See University Experts Guide.

ProfessorsBack to top
	Namkee G. Choi, Ph.D.DetailsProfessor and the Louis and Ann Wolens Centennial Chair in GerontologyRoom #: 3.122DPhone: (512) 232-9590Email: nchoi@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Geriatric Mental Health; Depression Treatment in Aging Services; Social Policy for older persons (Social Security and Supplemental Security Income); Program evaluation.
	Diana M. DiNitto, Ph.D.DetailsCullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education and Distinguished Teaching ProfessorRoom #: 3.130BPhone: (512) 471-9227Email: ddinitto@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Social welfare policy, chemical dependency, and violence against women. Social welfare policy; chemical dependency; women
	Rowena Fong, Ed.D.DetailsRuby Lee Piester Centennial Professor in Services to Children and FamiliesRoom #: 3.122GPhone: (512) 471-1393Email: rfong@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Adoptions and child welfare; International adoptions from China; Chinese American children and families; Women and children victims of Human Trafficking; Disproportionality in public child welfare; Culturally competent practice; Translational research and practice.
	Cynthia G. S. Franklin, Ph.D.DetailsStiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and Coordinator of Clinical Social Work ConcentrationRoom #: 3.130FPhone: (512) 471-0533Email: cfranklin@mail.utexas.eduInterests: School social work, family therapy, clinical practice, clinical assessment and measurement, and integration of research and practice. School social work; family therapy; clinical practice; clinical assessment
	Jane A. Kretzschmar, LCSWDetailsClinical Professor and Assistant Dean for Master's ProgramsRoom #: 2.244Phone: (512) 471-8209Email: swjak@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Field education, individual and family counseling, employee assistance programs, alcoholism, family planning, school social work, social work values and ethics.
	Michael L. Lauderdale, Ph.D.DetailsClara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor in Criminal JusticeRoom #: 3.130JPhone: (512) 471-9246Email: mll@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Criminal justice, organizational development, computer applications to organizational and community development. Criminal justice; child welfare; U.S.-Mexico relations
	Ruth G. McRoy, Ph.D.DetailsResearch Professor and Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor EmeritaRoom #: 3.208APhone: (512) 471-0551Email: r.mcroy@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Open adoptions, outcomes for birthmothers, adoptive parents and adopted children, trans-racial adoptions, family preservation, special needs adoptions, post adoption services, female sexual abuse perpetrators, racial identity issues, adolescent pregnancy, effectiveness of residential treatment services.
	Mary K. MulvaneyDetailsClinical ProfessorRoom #: 3.124APhone: (512) 471-9827Email: mmulvaney@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Field education, child welfare, child and family services, administration and management.
	Yolanda C. Padilla, Ph.D.DetailsProfessor of Social Work and Women's StudiesRoom #: 3.130KPhone: (512) 471-6266Email: ypadilla@utexas.eduInterests: Population studies focusing on racial and ethnic disparities in health and well-being with an emphasis on Mexican American children and families, poverty, immigration, and applications to social welfare policy development. Areas of practice specialization: policy analysis and community practice.
	Beth C. Pomeroy, Ph.D.DetailsProfessorRoom #: 3.106BPhone: (512) 232-3405Email: bpomeroy@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Clinical social work courses with a focus on mental health, health and children and families; HIV/AIDS interventions; crime victims; interventions for offenders in the criminal justice system; and clinical social work group interventions for children, adults and families.
	Allen Rubin, Ph.D.DetailsBert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor in Social WorkRoom #: 3.130EPhone: (512) 471-9218Email: arubin@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Evidence-based practice, treatment of traumatized populations, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, research methods, program evaluation, and severe and persistent mental illness.
	A. James Schwab, Ph.D.DetailsClara Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor in Child Welfare, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Assistant Dean for Doctoral ProgramsRoom #: 2.202CPhone: (512) 471-9816Email: jimschwab@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Use of automation and information technology in the management and administration of human services, data analysis and quantitative technique, computer simulation and decision support systems.
	Clay T. Shorkey, Ph.D.DetailsJosleen and Frances Lockhart Memorial Professor for Direct Practice in Social Work and Director of Social Work Learning Resource CenterRoom #: 1.218GPhone: (512) 471-0520Email: cshorkey@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Generalist practice in social work with emphasis on mental health and chemical dependence, spirituality and faith-based chemical dependence treatment and culturally competent/relevant services for underserved populations in chemical dependence programs.
	Richard Spence, Ph.D.DetailsResearch ProfessorRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0608Email: rtspence@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Research in the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems; Needs assessment for AOD services; Outcomes assessment and performance management for AOD treatment; Planning and statewide resource allocation for AOD services.
	David W. Springer, Ph.D., LCSWDetailsProfessorRoom #: 3.130FPhone: (512) 471-0512Email: dwspringer@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Juvenile justice and delinquency; forensic social work; clinical assessment and interventions with adolescents; community-based services with youth; applied psychometric theory and scale development; and leadership in social work higher education.
	Calvin L. Streeter, Ph.D.DetailsProfessor and Meadows Foundation Centennial Professor in the Quality of Life in the Rural EnvironmentRoom #: 3.130GPhone: (512) 471-0543Email: cstreeter@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Organization behavior and social administration, disaster preparedness and community response to crisis, school social work and dropout prevention, quality management in human services rural human services, social research and measurement.
	Mary Velasquez, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate Dean for Research and Professor; Director, Center for Social Work Research; Director, Health Behavior Research and Training InstituteRoom #: 3.208GPhone: (512) 471-7019Email: velasquez@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Development and implementation of interventions using the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Motivational Interviewing, health behavior interventions including HIV prevention, prenatal health, alcohol and other substance abuse, smoking cessation, and prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
	Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D.DetailsDean and Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social PolicyRoom #: 2.202BPhone: (512) 471-1937Email: lzayas@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Adapting interventions for diverse ethnocultural families; suicide attempts among young Latinos; child and adolescent mental health; family functioning; advocacy for U.S. citizen-children.

Associate ProfessorsBack to top
	Barbara AndersonDetailsClinical Associate ProfessorRoom #: 3.124EPhone: (512) 232-7118Email: barbara.a@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Generalist practice, child welfare, medical social work and field education.
	Kathy F. Armenta, LCSWDetailsClinical Associate ProfessorRoom #: 3.124CPhone: (512) 471-8230Email: karmenta@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Teaching Practice, Integrative Field Seminar and providing Field Liaison services to graduate students and agency-based Field Instructors; teaching electives in social change and community practice, school-based social work; topics of resiliency, community organizing, leadership development, experiential interventions, play interventions, field education and generalist practice.
	Marilyn Armour, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate Professor and University Distinguished Teaching ProfessorRoom #: 3.212EBPhone: (512) 471-3197Email: marmour@utexas.eduInterests: Clinical interventions with individuals, couples, and families; Clinical supervision; Cross Cultural supervision; Professional ethics and boundaries; Restorative justice; Research on families of homicide victims; Qualitative research methods.
	Noël Busch-Armendariz, Ph.D., LMSW, MPADetailsAssociate Professor and Director, Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual AssaultRoom #: 3.212EAPhone: (512) 471-3198Email: nbusch@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Violence against women and children; social and public policy; social justice; international social work education, training and practice; and adoption and child welfare issues.
	Catherine Cubbin, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.130MPhone: (512) 232-8374Email: ccubbin@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Social epidemiology; social inequalities in health; neighborhood environments and health; conceptualization and measurement of socioeconomic status/position
	Miguel J. Ferguson, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.122BPhone: (512) 232-5914Email: miguelf@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Social welfare history, poverty, social welfare policies and programs, gender and ethnic biases in social welfare policy, welfare reform evaluation. Poverty; economic security and inequality; social policy
	Craig Field, Ph.D.DetailsResearch Associate ProfessorRoom #: HPB 295Phone: (512) 232-0624Email: craig.field@austin.utexas.edu
	Dorie J. Gilbert, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.130HPhone: (512) 471-8229Email: dgm@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Prevention and intervention with women and people of color living with HIV/AIDS, psychosocial adjustment in persons coping with social stigma, child and adolescent welfare and counseling, multicultural practice issues; and cultural diversity curriculum development.
	Darlene Grant, Ph.D.DetailsCountry Director and Associate ProfessorRoom #: 3.130DPhone: (512) 471-0532Email: d.grant@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Women with addiction problems and their perinatally drug-exposed children, family systems, child sexual abuse, adolescent psychiatric issues, computer-based interactive learning, recruitment and retention of traditionally underrepresented populations in higher education.
	Lori K. Holleran Steiker, Ph.D., ACSWDetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.122APhone: (512) 232-9330Email: lorikay@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Substance abuse prevention, culturally grounded social work practice, adult and adolescent substance abuse and recovery, and social work with groups.
	Yuri Jang, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.130CPhone: (512) 471-1702Email: yjang12@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Gerontology; Health disparities; Minority aging; Mental health and service utilization.
	Barbara L. Jones, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.122FPhone: (512) 475-9367Email: barbarajones@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Pediatric palliative and end of life care, grief and loss, childhood cancer survivors, hope and resiliency, spirituality and international social work.
	Tammy Linseisen, LCSW, ACSWDetailsClinical Associate ProfessorRoom #: 3.124FPhone: (512) 471-9240Email: tlinseisen@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Child abuse/neglect, children's mental health issues, family treatment, field instruction, social work methods, foster care and adoption issues, young adult issues, and clinical supervision.
	Molly Lopez, Ph.D.DetailsResearch Associate ProfessorRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0614Email: mlopez@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Mental health services research, evidence-based practice, trauma informed care, cognitive behavioral therapies, implementation science, fidelity assessment, workforce competency, systems of care.
	Forrest Novy, Ph.D.DetailsResearch Associate ProfessorRoom #: 3.116CPhone: (512) 232-8375Email: fnovy@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Public policy and practices in the treatment, care, and education of juveniles offenders with disabilities; language and learning disorders in children; international exchange of ideas, practices, and programs for children and youth in conflict with the law.
	Vicki Y. PackheiserDetailsClinical Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate ProgramsRoom #: 2.240Phone: (512) 471-2364Email: vpackheiser@mail.utexas.eduInterests: The importance of creativity at all levels of social work practice, the creative and expressive art therapies, clinical practice, international social work, field education, professional resilience and the prevention of compassion fatigue, secondary trauma and burnout.
	Michele A. Rountree, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.122EPhone: (512) 471-7160Email: mrountree@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Core research focus is in the area of health disparities in relation to socio-political, cultural and structural factors. Specific, narrowed inquiry is in the investigation of mental health and health associated with the intersection between intimate partner violence (IPV) and heightened risk for HIV/AIDS. Additional areas of research are the development and evaluation of evidence-based HIV/AIDS interventions and prevention strategies tailored to women and communities of color.
	Sanna J. Thompson, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: 3.122CPhone: (512) 232-0604Email: sannathompson@utexas.eduInterests: Clinical interventions with adolescents and families; juvenile delinquency; runaway/homeless youth; adolescent substance abuse intervention research; homeless young adults.
	Kirk von Sternberg, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate ProfessorRoom #: HPB 295Phone: (512) 232-0633Email: vonsternberg@mail.utexas.edu
	Tanya VossDetailsClinical Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Field EducationRoom #: 2.234Phone: (512) 471-0510Email: tmvoss@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Field education, clinical supervision, policy and practice, community-based services for juvenile and criminal justice client-family systems, children of incarcerated parents.

Assistant ProfessorsBack to top
	Yessenia Castro, Ph.D.DetailsAssistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.130DPhone: (512) 471-1691Email: ycastro@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Development, evaluation, and dissemination of interventions for health risk behaviors; effects of cultural factors, gender, and race/ethnicity on health behavior; Latino health; psychometrics.
	Susan M. De Luca, Ph.D.DetailsAssistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.130LPhone: (512) 471-1713Email: sdeluca@austin.utexas.edu
	M. Teresa Granillo, Ph.D., MSWDetailsAssistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.106CPhone: (512) 232-8433Email: mtgranillo@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Adolescent and young adult mental health, specifically among Latinas; influences of cultural factors on mental health (e.g., acculturation, acculturative stress, ethnic identity); eating disorders and prevention; substance use/abuse; mental health service utilization; mental health literacy; academic success, particularly the impact of mental health and mental health service utilization.
	Cossy Hough, LCSWDetailsClinical Assistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.124GPhone: (512) 471-8226Email: cossyhough@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Field Education, case management, social administration, social welfare, public health, medical social work, death and dying issues.
	Elizabeth Mueller, Ph.D.DetailsAssistant ProfessorRoom #: SUT 4.114Phone: (512) 471-1151Email: ejmueller@mail.utexas.edu
	Angela M. Nonaka, Ph.D.DetailsAssistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.106DPhone: (512) 471-9701Email: angelanonaka@austin.utexas.edu
	Sarah SloanDetailsClinical Assistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.124KPhone: (512) 471-9107Email: ssloan@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Field education, clinical practice, group therapy, supervision, mindfulness, LGBTQ issues, grief and loss, and generalist practice.
	Robin Smith, LCSWDetailsClinical Assistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.124JPhone: (512) 471-3438Email: robinsmith@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Mental health and chemical dependency assessment and treatment; hospital social work; suicide risk assessment and prevention; crisis counseling; 12-step recovery; social welfare policy; social work-related topics in journalism.
	Dede Sparks, LMSWDetailsClinical Assistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.124BPhone: (512) 471-9063Email: dsparks@austin.utexas.edu
	Sarah Swords, LCSWDetailsClinical Assistant ProfessorRoom #: 3.124DPhone: (512) 471-7231Email: saswords@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Field education, gerontology, domestic violence, eating disorders, women's mental health, and philanthropy.

Research ScientistsBack to top
	Holly Bell, Ph.D., LCSWDetailsResearch Scientist, Center for Social Work Research; Lecturer, School of Social WorkRoom #: 3.212CAPhone: (512) 232-5540Email: hbell@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Secondary/vicarious trauma , domestic violence, poverty, prostitution, disaster,  spirituality, qualitative research methods, program evaluation
	Tom Bohman, Ph.D.DetailsResearch ScientistRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0605Email: bohman@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Substance abuse; evaluation; survey research; design and analysis of longitudinal research studies with particular focus on prevention studies; analysis of non-independent data (e.g., data from families); multilevel modeling; generalized linear models; complex survey sampling.
	Mary S. Cook, LMSWDetailsResearch AssociateRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0619Email: mscook@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Research and practice in the areas of children and families, addiction, poverty, and diversity issues.
	Monica Faulkner, Ph.D., LMSWDetailsResearch AssociateRoom #: 3.212CBPhone: (512) 471-7191Email: mfaulkner@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Child welfare, teen pregnancy/parenthood, women's health, child care, Latino families, immigration, child and family policy, advanced statistics: hierarchal linear modeling.
	Noel Landuyt, Ph.D.DetailsResearch Associate and LecturerRoom #: HPB 345Phone: (512) 471-9831Email: nlanduyt@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Organizational development and assessment, leadership development. Non-profit management, Public Safety.
	Carol M. Lewis, Ph.D.DetailsAssociate Director, CSWRRoom #: 3.208FPhone: (512) 471-9219Email: carolmarie@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Research administration; adolescent pregnancy prevention; intensive case management for adolescent parents; reproductive health; research design; program evaluation.
	Lori MangrumDetailsResearch ScientistRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0641Email: lmangrum@mail.utexas.edu
	Jane Maxwell, Ph.D.DetailsSenior Research ScientistRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0610Email: jcmaxwell@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Research in trends and patterns of substance abuse in Texas, nationally, and internationally, with special interest on the US-Mexico border; research in patterns of use and abuse of methamphetamine, party drugs, methadone, and other opiate drugs; impaired driving programs; and synthetic estimation techniques.
	Sophia P. Sarantakos, LCSWDetailsResearch AssociateRoom #: HPB 295Phone: (512) 232-0626Email: spsarantakos@austin.utexas.edu
	Dnika J. Travis, Ph.D.DetailsResearch FellowRoom #: 3.106EPhone: (512) 471-2081Email: dtravis@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Promoting inclusion and workforce diversity; Initiating and navigating organizational change; Building effective communication and leadership skills
	Lynn Wallisch, Ph.D.DetailsResearch ScientistRoom #: HPB 335Phone: (512) 232-0611Email: lynn.wallisch@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Substance abuse; problem gambling; survey research; acculturation.

LecturersBack to top
	Ruth Fagan-Wilen, Ph.D., LCSWDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (210) 219-0055Email: ruthfagan@mail.utexas.eduInterests: Marital and group therapy, using parllel processes (teaching and practice) in classroom instruction. Developed the Birth Family Continuum Model to help protective service workers and foster and adoptive parents work with birth parents.
	Lauren M. Gaspar, LCSWDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 296-7258Email: lmgaspar@hotmail.comInterests: Grief and loss issues, sexual and physical abuse, trauma with children and families, sexually reactive behaviors in children; sexual abuse evaluations.
	Pamela Haynes, DCSW, BCD, LCSWDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (877) 519-1144Email: phaynes@austin.utexas.eduInterests: Currently working in private practice. Her areas of expertise include: practice and supervision of a variety of therapy models including individual psychotherapy, family therapy, hypnotherapy, and therapeutic groups such as adults molested as children. Prior to coming to Austin she was on the faculty of the Family Practice Residency program at Tripler Army Medical Center, teaching F.P. and F.P. - Psychiatry interns and residents.
	Farnaz MasumianDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 731-5175Email: masumian@mail.utexas.eduInterests: East Asian Religions, Middle Eastern Religions, Afterlife in World Religions, Near-death experiences and world religions, eastern and western MEDITATION techniques.
	Arlene Montgomery, Ph.D.DetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 480-8086Email: yerzaborzoi@aol.comInterests: Professional interests include the clinical implications of the neurobiology of relationships between and among people as it relates to social service delivery and clinical work, with particular interest in group work, supervision, attachment, adolescents, and trauma.
	Stephanie L. Rivaux, Ph.D., LMSWDetailsResearch Associate and LecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 471-9826Email: s_rivaux@mail.utexas.edu
	Russell Smith, LMSWDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 491-8327Email: russasmith@aol.comInterests: I am the Executive Director of YouthLaunch,a local non-profit dedicated to engaging young people in service. I'm also on the Board of Austin Groups for the Elderly, an organization my grandmother, Bert Kruger Smith, founded 23 years ago.
	Mitch SudolskyDetailsLecturerRoom #: 3.104APhone: (512) 250-1043Email: mitch.sudolsky@jcaaonline.orgInterests: His current work at Jewish Family Services includes clinical supervision, program development, and providing clinical services and public education programs.
	Susan WalshDetailsCWEC Student EducatorRoom #: 3.124HPhone: (512) 471-7451Email: slwalsh@austin.utexas.edu

Additional Contact InformationBack to top

General School E-Mail Address: ssw@utlists.utexas.edu
Mailing Address: University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work, 1 University Station D3500, Austin TX 78712-0358

Useful Phone Numbers

Academic Affairs: 471-5457
Dean’s Office: 471-1937
CSWR: 471-0561
DiNitto Center: 232-7362
Office of Admissions: 232-7352
Ph.D. Office: 475-8676
Adjunct Office: 471-9826
LRC: 471-9223
Development Office: 471-1937
Professional Development: 471-0561

Fax Numbers

Faculty Support Office: 471-9600
CSWR: 471-9514
Dean’s Office: 471-7268
Adjunct Office: 232-2165