The Georgia chapter of the National Association of Social Workers honored two UGA School of Social Work faculty members at its annual meeting on Oct. 22.
Maurice Daniels, a professor and dean of the school, and Alberta “Bert” Ellett, a professor of social work, both received Distinguished Social Work Practice Awards. Daniels also was presented with the 2015 David E. Levine Excellence in Education and Ethics Award.
The Distinguished Social Work Practice Award honors those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, service and contributions to social work. It is open to social work professionals from all practice areas, including institutions of higher education.
The Levine Award is named for a respected, longtime UGA School of Social Work faculty member who died in 2011. Levine also served as chair of the NASW Georgia chapter’s Committee on Ethics. The award honors social workers who have promoted ethics and education, training and development as an integral part of social work education.
Daniels is founder and director of the Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies and Research and a co-founder of the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity. He played a key role in the establishment of the university’s Institute for African American Studies, its minority services and programs department and the Office of Institutional Diversity.
Ellett is nationally known as a leader in promoting the continued professionalization of child welfare staffing. In 2003 she conducted the largest and most extensive survey ever done of turnover and retention of child welfare workers in Georgia.