Dear Silver Community,
It gives me an immense amount of pleasure to announce that our Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work Dr. Kirk “Jae” James has been appointed as the interim Director of the DSW Program in Clinical Social Work.
Jae’s scholarship and leadership during the six-plus years that he has been at Silver have been extraordinary. As you all know, his research, publishing, and advocacy focus on deconstructing issues related to mass incarceration—specifically as they pertain to trauma, cognitive development, culpability, and the examination of systems that foster and perpetuate racial injustice. His lived experience within the nation’s carceral system informs his research and teaching in ways that are invaluable to scholarship at Silver and in the social work field. He serves as the Chair of the Diversity, Racism, Oppression, and Privilege Curriculum Area for our MSW Program, a role in which he will continue to serve as he takes up this new appointment.
Jae’s passion for this work, as well as his commitment to social work education and practice, will serve our DSW program, its students, and our School in critically important ways. He takes up the mantle of the DSW program from Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Dr. Linda Lausell Bryant, who continues to serve the interests of our students with excellence in that role, as well as in her positions of Clinical Associate Professor, Master Teacher, and Katherine and Howard Aibel Executive-in Residence.
Meanwhile, Jae continues to distinguish himself. Earlier this year, we shared that he was appointed to the inaugural Editorial Board of Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work, a new, open access, peer-reviewed social work journal dedicated to abolitionist perspectives in social work research, education, policy, and practice. He was a recipient of the 2020 New York University Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award, and was inducted in the inaugural Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice in 2018.
He has this to say about the appointment: “Almost a decade ago, I earned my DSW degree—which has been, without a doubt, one of the most important decisions I have made as a social work professional. As the incoming director, I aim to ensure that we provide our students with academic rigor, support, and the tools to improve their leadership within their respective fields. I am beyond excited for this next step and look forward to working with students, faculty, staff, and Silver leadership to grow and evolve the DSW program.”
Please join me in congratulating Jae for his new role.
