Prof. Hahm Inducted into American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
Dr. Hyeouk Chris Hahm, BU School of Social Work (BUSSW) professor and associate dean of research, will be inducted into The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) at a reception on Saturday, January 18, 2025, during the upcoming Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference in Seattle, Washington.
AASWSW is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitioners who are dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare, while advancing high-impact work that advances social good.
Hahm is a prolific researcher dedicated to reducing health disparities among Asian American populations with a particular emphasis on building empirical evidence of health risk behaviors. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Science Foundation. She has developed and tested a theoretical framework that explains suicide behaviors among Asian American women and has created culturally grounded interventions: AWARE (Asian American Women’s Actions in Resilience and Empowerment) and Youth AWARE, which have been implemented in colleges and high schools. Hahm also developed the AWARE Training Certificate, which focuses on training social workers, mental health counselors, advisors, and education professionals to support and empower young Asian American women encountering challenges of adulthood, mainstream American culture, and parents’ traditional culture.
Hahm is also vice-president elect of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), and an editorial board member for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, the Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work in the U.S., and the Journal of Korean Mental Health in South Korea. She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed journal publications and has given 250 professional talks locally, nationally and internationally. She is a recipient of a research mentor award at Boston University and the Innovator’s Award from Asian Women for Health and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including the New York Times, National Public Radio, USA Today, Boston Globe, Washington Post, GBH (Boston’s NPR), and the Economist.
Hahm joins several BUSSW community members who are also fellows in the Academy, including Dean Barbara Jones who is also a member of the AASWSW board. In addition to Hahm and Jones, other BUSSW fellows include Maryann Amodeo, professor emerita & lecturer, Prof. Jorge Delva, Prof. Judith Gonyea, Prof. and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Renee Spencer, Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita Gail Steketee, and Charles Lewis, an advisory board member of the BUSSW Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health at BUSSW.