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Simmons University is pleased to announce that it has selected Dr. Michael C. LaSala, PhD, LCSW to serve as Dean of the School of Social Work. Dr. LaSala will begin the transition to Simmons during the week of February 5, 2024, and his term will officially begin on July 1, 2024.

• University Leadership and Structure

Simmons University has received grant funding from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to address health needs in the communities the hospital serves. The $416,000 grant awarded to Simmons University will help support mental and behavioral health at Fenway High School located in Mission Hill.

• Awards and Honors
• Health & Wellness

A clinical social worker and an Associate Professor of Practice in the Simmons University School of Social Work, Olivia Montgomery offers talks on anti-fat bias and health care in her community. In her virtual testimony, she related an experience visiting a new primary care physician.

• Health & Wellness
• Social Justice & Advocacy

In January 2024, Bloomsbury Publishing (London) will release The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hip Hop Pedagogy, co-edited by Daren Graves, Professor of Education and Social Work at Simmons, and Dr. Lauren Leigh Kelly, an Associate Professor of Education at Rutgers University. This collection is “the first reference work to cover the theory, history, research methodologies, and practice of Hip Hop pedagogy.”

• Research

October is National Domestic / Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month. This semester, Simmons University welcomes twelve Master’s in Social Work students into the Survivor Link + Public Health Americorps program, which trains Social Work students to work with survivors.

• Awards and Honors
• Internships & Careers

On October 11, the Simmons community gathered to honor the outstanding achievements of six faculty members representing five disciplines. This year’s awardees received recognition for superlative undergraduate and graduate teaching, research, service, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Awards and Honors
• Mentorship
• Research

This fall, six new faculty members join the Simmons School of Social Work. Their diverse clinical and research repertoires include trauma, women’s health, child welfare, weight stigma, substance misuse, and adolescent mental health. These dedicated scholars and practitioners will inspire Simmons students to fight inequity and empower marginalized individuals.

• Research

The late Rebecca Cohan, '72MSW and LICSW, led a remarkable career as a clinical therapist and court-appointed parenting coordinator. She was also a highly skilled baker. We spoke with her daughter, Sarah Cohan, about her mother's passion for social work...

• Scholarships/Financial Aid

Founded in 1919, the League of Women for Community Service is a Boston-based Black women's organization that still exists today. According to Professor Hamilton-Mason , the League helped cultivate Black womanhood in a nurturing and supportive way. Members of the...

• Research

The Passionate Leaders Project (PLP) supports undergraduate students by funding research opportunities that transcend traditional coursework. Participants of the PLP develop research and critical thinking skills and bring the insights of academia to real world issues. This year’s cohort addresses mental health, neuroscience, environmental science, the foster care system, and technology.

• Leadership
• Research