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Alumni

2009 Distinguished Alumni Awardees Announced

The Distinguished Alumni Awards Selection Committee at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work is pleased to announce the honorees for 2009:

Distinguished Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Work Education

Dr. Michael J. Holosko (Ph.D. ’79)

Distinguished Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions / Career in Social Work Practice

Dr. Kenneth S. Ramsey (Ph.D. '84)

Dr. Holosko and Dr. Ramsey received their awards at the School of Social Work Afternoon of Recognition on Sunday April 25, 2009.

Biographies

MICHAEL J. HOLOSKO, (Ph.D. '79) is the Pauline M. Berger Professor of Family and Child Welfare at The University of Georgia, School of Social Work, and adjunct instructor at Norfolk State University.  He has taught in schools of: social work (primarily), nursing, public administration, and applied social science in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.   He is currently the External Examiner to the Applied Social Studies at City University of Hong Kong. He has published extensively in the areas of evaluation, health care, gerontology, social policy, research methods, music intervention, and spirituality.  For the past 30 years, he has been a consultant to a variety of large and small health and human service organizations in the areas of: program evaluation, outcomes, accreditation, organizational development, communication, leadership, visioning, organizational alignment, and stress management.  He has published numerous monographs, chapters, articles, and texts in the areas of evaluation, health care, gerontology, social policy, research, youth empowerment, music intervention, and spirituality.   He serves on the editorial boards of: Research on Social Work Practice; Social Work in Public Health ( formerly the Journal of Health and Social Policy); Stress, Trauma and Crisis; Journal of Human Behavior and Social Environment; the Hong Kong Journal of Social Work; Journal of Social Service Research; Research on Social Work Practice;  and the Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work Practice.  For many years, he has had both radio and television shows advocating for vulnerable populations and social justice in North America.  He currently resides in Athens, Georgia, with his wife Ann.  His two children are attending university, his son Joel [23] in Canada, and his daughter Adrienne [20] in New York.

KENNETH S. RAMSEY, (Ph.D. '84) has been employed by organizations which provide alcohol and drug treatment and prevention services for the past 41 years.  During this period, he has directed hospital-based and freestanding chemical dependency and behavioral health programs.  He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Gateway Rehabilitation Center which is located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Under his leadership, Gateway has grown from a single site 28-day program with 39 staff members to an internationally known drug and alcohol treatment facility, currently with 600 staff in 25 locations throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.  The Gateway system of services treats nearly 1,700 people per day.

Dr. Ramsey is a member of a number of Pittsburgh area community Boards of Directors such as the United Way of Beaver County and the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce.  He is active with his church, where he recently helped to develop a biblically based twelve-step ministry.  In addition, he is active on the boards of a number of professional state and national organizations such as the Pennsylvania Providers Association and the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers where he is the Immediate Past Chair.  He was recently appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to serve as a member of the Pennsylvania Health Department’s Drug and Alcohol Advisory Council.

Dr. Ramsey has a Bachelors Degree from Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia, a Masters Degree from Fordham University in New York City, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Dr. Ramsey is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh.  He was recognized by Wheeling Jesuit University as a Distinguished Alumnus, and has been named Administrator of the Year by both a Pittsburgh based organization and a national organization, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.  He received the Health Care Hero Executive Award from the Pittsburgh Business Times in March 2005.  He has published articles on addiction and management, and presented papers on such topics as ethics, administration, management, planning, fundraising, change, and the dual integration of chemical dependency and mental health services.

Nominations

For more information future nominations, please contact Keith Caldwell, School of Social Work at 412-648-9441 or email kjc45@pitt.edu.

Nomination materials should be sent to:

University of Pittsburgh

School of Social Work

The Distinguished Alumnae(i)

    Awards Committee

2117 Cathedral of Learning

Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Fax: 412-624-6323