Meet Our 2022 Alumni Association Award Winners
The annual BUSSW Alumni Association Awards recognize the extraordinary contributions made by alumni, faculty and staff to the school, field and community.
We are pleased to announce the 2022 award winners.
Outstanding Career in Social Work – Richard “Rik” Cornell (SSW’87)
The Outstanding Career in Social Work Award acknowledges and honors a BUSSW graduate who, throughout their career, has consistently demonstrated exceptional contributions to the profession and the community at large. Richard “Rik” Cornell (SSW’87) receives the award in recognition of his 49-year career at the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester (MHCGM) and in community mental health advocacy.
Cornell began his career as a mental health worker at MHCGM in 1973 when he was still an undergraduate student. He quickly moved on to roles in emergency services, child and adolescent treatment, and numerous community efforts, like being on the board of directors to develop Manchester’s first women’s crisis center safe home. Deciding to make social work his lifelong career, Cornell earned his MSW from BUSSW in 1987. Upon receiving his LICSW, he was appointed assistant director and then director of the MHCGM-sponsored group practice Bedford Counseling Associates, where a colleague said he became the “go-to” counselor.
Today, Cornell serves as MHCGM’s vice president for community relations and development, promoting mental health awareness, engaging in advocacy at both community and state levels, and leading fundraising efforts. He is often a guest speaker on understanding suicide and how to play a part in helping to stop it. He is a certified Mental Health First Aid trainer and operates a small clinical practice. Cornell says “I do this work because I once heard someone say, ‘Having a mental illness is a lonely journey, and nobody should ever have to travel that road alone.’”
Outstanding Contributions to the School of Social Work – Kristina Whiton-O’Brien (SSW’95)
The Outstanding Contributions to the School of Social Work Award acknowledges and honors BUSSW faculty and staff whose contributions to social work education have been outstanding. Kristina Whiton-O’Brien (SSW’95) was selected for the award in acknowledgement of her numerous contributions to BUSSW as an advisor, administrator, lecturer and online course facilitator, and community leader.
Whiton-O’Brien, a graduate of BUSSW’s MSW program, returned to the School of Social Work in 2010 after fifteen years working in child welfare and at the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter. She began her BUSSW career as a part-time advisor for the Off-Campus Program’s Cape Cod campus and joined the School full-time in 2012 as assistant director for online advising and field education. As one of the founding members of the online program, she was instrumental in the program’s development and vision, especially in its field education component. She helped design and implement the Seminar for New Field Instructors and the Professional Development Seminar, and also taught in the online program. She became involved in the Ethics department and forged connections in and outside of the School, joining a national online education consortium, presenting at social work conferences, and participating in numerous school and university committees. She also mobilized students, staff and faculty in the BUSSW Votes civic engagement initiative from 2018 until 2021, when she left her administrative role at BUSSW to join Vot-ER as director of partnerships. She continues to serve as an instructor for the online and off-campus MSW programs. Through her work with Vot-ER, she continues to be a strong strategic partner with the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH) where she has led co-sponsorship of health equity speaker events focused on civic health engagement and social work.
Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Social Work – Betty J. Ruth (SSW’84, SPH’85)
The Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Social Work Award honors a BUSSW graduate whose contributions to social work have been of exceptional value to the profession and the community-at-large. Betty J. Ruth (SSW’84, SPH’85), clinical professor emerita at BUSSW, receives the award in recognition of her pioneering work advancing the field of public health social work.
A trailblazer in promoting the integration of social work and public health, Ruth was recruited to BUSSW by Dean Emeritus Hubie Jones in 1987 to improve the School’s MSW/MPH dual degree program. Her leadership made the program a national leader in public health social work education. She co-founded and directed a working group, the Group for Public Health Social Initiatives, which promoted public health social work research, education, and visibility. Later, she helped establish and launch the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH) at BUSSW, a research center dedicated to expanding the impact of social work in health care and public health, nationally and globally. Ruth retired from her faculty role in 2020. She continues in her roles as consultant, educator, writer, and social worker, serving as a consulting editor for Health and Social Work and the Journal of Social Work in Public Health, working as a referral clinician for the National Association of Social Workers (MA) Therapy Matcher program, (NASW-MA), and advising BUSSW students.
Hubie Jones Urban Service Aware – Maya Milic-Strkalj (SSW’12)
This award, which recognizes the many contributions of Dean Emeritus Hubie Jones, acknowledges and honors a BUSSW graduate who actively pursues the urban mission and goals of the School through their practice of social work. Maya Milic-Strkalj (SSW’12), a part-time faculty member teaching sections of the family therapy and racial justice and cultural oppression courses, was selected for their leadership in the Boston Liberation Health (BLH) Group and their embodiment of social work values in their clinical practice.
Through a collaboration between BLH and the City School, Milic-Strkalj is a part of the steering committee for the design process of a Boston community-led mental health crisis response program that does not involve law enforcement. As a member of BLH’s steering committee, they train fellow social workers to think critically and practice social justice values in their work, educating them on how to take action towards making systemic change to improve clients’ lives. They are deeply involved in local abolition work through Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network and Deeper than Water, working from an abolitionist stance to end ICE detention and medical abuse and neglect within the prison industrial complex. Passionate about working with LGBTQ+ community, they have also been active in local community groups and organizations including Fenway Health and The Network/La Red, a survivor-led, social justice organization that works to end partner abuse in LGBTQ+, BDSM, and polyamorous communities.
Clinical social worker April Tang (SSW’17), a fellow BLH Steering Committee member and BUSSW graduate, says “Maya has worked tirelessly to support marginalized individuals while also advocating for systemic changes on a macro level. Their career and community activities further social justice causes and truly embody the urban mission and goals of the School of Social Work.”
BUSSW will celebrate the award winners with a ceremony during BU Alumni Weekend. The ceremony will take place in person at Boston University’s George Sherman Union on October 1, 2022. All members of the School community are invited to join.
To learn more about the Awards and access registration, visit bu.edu/ssw/awards.