Distinguished Career Awardis presented to
College
of
Social Work
alumni
for exceptional professional achievements, initiatives, or leadership in one
or more of the following areas: practice/clinical excellence, community
development, advocacy, education, or administration.
Distinguished Career Award
Valarie Justiss Vance, PhD. '49
The first recipient to receive the Ohio State University College
of Social Work’s Hall of Fame Distinguished Career Award is Dr. Valarie
Justiss Vance. Dr. Vance is the first African American
and the first woman inducted to The Ohio State University College of Social
Work Alumni Hall of Fame. Valarie, who knew at nine years of age that
she wanted to be a social worker, left
Ohio
to start her education at
HowardUniversity
in
WashingtonD.C.
, where as a student she helped organize the First-Intercollegiate Social Welfare Conference held April 1932 at Howard University hosted by the Historical Society. Dr. W.E.B. Dubois was one of the conference speakers and the conference was attended by many. Valarie earned her
undergraduate degree in 1935. After graduating from Howard University, she returned to
her home town of
Toledo
and attended the
University
of
Toledo
, where she received a Master’s
degree. She then returned to
Washington
,
D.C.
where she studied law at the
TerrellLawSchool
from 1942-45.
Her compassion for humanity called her back to
Ohio, and earned her Ph.D. in 1949 from the OSU College of Social Work. Since then, she has
completed post-doctoral trainings at Hanswoerker
Skolen in
Sanderberg,Denmark,
the Howard University School of
Social Work in
Washington,D.C.,
the
University
of
Vienna
in
Austria,
and the Columbia Union
College American Institute of Foreign Study.
Dr. Vance, who received the honor of “The Girl Most Likely to
Succeed” while an undergraduate at Howard, followed her calling to be a
social worker and has had a long and diverse career. She
personifies the words “social worker”, and has tirelessly pursued
opportunities that have led to social change. Over the course of a
long and distinguished career, she has been:
a Professor of English at Lane College
senior social worker for the Chicago Welfare
Administration
a social work research assistant in the public
schools in the District of Columbia
a Visiting Professor of Social Work at Atlanta University
the Director of Social Work at the Massachusetts Association for the Adult Blind
an Assistant Clinical Professor of Social Work
in Pediatrics (Mental Retardation) at the
College of Medicine at the University of California
a Behavioral Sciences Consultant for the
California Department of Mental Health
a Chief Psychiatric Social Worker, School of Medicine at Loma
Linda University
a consultant to the Head Start Program, and
a Staff Development Specialist in Alcoholism
Programming at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital in
Los Angeles
Dr. Vance was the first African American world-wide to write extensively on
the subject of unmarried fathers. She wrote the social work
provisions that were included in the War on Poverty, and has published 28
articles. Her article “Psycho/Social Problems in a Pediatric Allergy
Clinic” published in the Annals of Allergy in 1971 commanded international attention.
In addition to all of this, Valarie was the Associate Director of
the first Black radio show, AMERICANS ALL, at Station WOOK, Washington, D.C., while working with co-producer Dr. Tomlison Todd.
Mike is a 1976 M.S.W. graduate from the Ohio State University
College of Social Work. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master's degree in Public Policy and Management in 1976 from the
OhioStateUniversity
. In
addition, Mike earned a Law degree from
CapitalUniversity
in 1983.
Mike worked as a Social Work Agency Field Instructor and
a social work academic counselor at OSU. In his role of academic
counselor, Mike believed the College needed a vehicle to convey messages and
announcements to the students. His solution was to build student mailboxes. And for nearly three decades these mailboxes, located in
the lower level of Stillman, have served the students well and will continue
serving the student body for years to come. In addition, he has been adjunct
faculty at the College. In 1982 he received the
Distinguished Undergraduate Teacher Award from the student body.
Mike left OSU in 1983 for
MoreheadStateUniversity
to assume a
faculty position in the Department of Social Work. He served as Director of
the Social Work Program and Director of Morehead State University’s MSW
program at its campus at the
University
of
Kentucky
from
1986-1994. During his tenure as director, the student enrollment grew from 35
to 260, and the number of faculty increased from 2.5 to 7. He established a
part-time MSW evening program, a 2+2 program with regional community
colleges, and co- administered the
MSWTrainingResourceCenter
to provide
training to regional adult and child protection workers and foster parents.
He did all of this and still served as “Scoring Table
Official” for the Morehead Men’s and Women’s Basketball Games for three
years.
Mike has also served as the Affirmative Action Officer for
MoreheadStateUniversity
.
In 1993 Mike was promoted to Executive Assistant to
the President of Morehead State University, and from that time to 2001 he
served on the Morehead State University President’s Cabinet, staffing all of
the President’s major initiatives. In 2000, he was appointed Dean of the
College
of
Education
and Behavioral Sciences at
Morehead, a College that housed six departments with 2,000 students, 125
full-time and part-time faculty, and had an
operating budget of $6 million. Currently Mike is the Dean of the Caudill
College of Humanities at Morehead, which includes the departments of arts,
humanities, and social sciences (social work).
Beyond
Morehead State, Mike has been
a Fulbright Research Scholar
Distinguished International Lecturer by invitation of the Slovak
Academic of Sciences.
an American Council on Education Fellow
a United Nations Volunteer in Ethiopia
where he assisted in conducting an accurate census of Somali refugees
Mike is currently Dean of Caudill College of Humanities,
Morehead State University and expected to retire from Morehead State University in 2007.
Distinguished Career Award
Marguerite
Turnbull, M.S.W. ‘68
Marguerite Turnbull is a 1968 MSW graduate from the OSU
College of Social Work, and a woman who personifies the term “grass roots social
worker” – and also has worked for social change for
her entire life.
Marguerite entered
OhioWesleyanUniversity
and graduated in June 1946 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Sociology.
Her first job was at the Pillsbury Settlement House, a stepping
stone that would lead her to becoming an accomplished woman in the
field of social work. Her settlement house experience provided her with a
wide range of social service experiences, including providing citizenship and
English courses to immigrants, doing family work, and working in nurseries,
day care, well-baby clinics, schools, and adult learning programs. Marguerite
eventually became the Director of Girls’ Work at Pillsbury.
Marguerite is a former President of the Iowa City Chapter of
the League of Women Voters. Through her work with the League in
Iowa
and
Ohio
,
she has received many awards including accolades from Women’s Equality Day,
Ohio Women, Inc., Democracy in Action, and the League of Women Voters of
Metropolitan Columbus. Marguerite has also received the Woman of Achievement
Award from the YMCA.
Marguerite has volunteered with the Worthington Area Human
Relations Council, where she strived to bring equality in employment and
education. She also served for six years in the Job Training Partnership
Program for the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services.
She has served as a board member for the Coalition on
Homelessness and Housing in
Ohio
,
and as a volunteer with the Open Shelter Board of Columbus, the Ohio Social
Policy Advisory Committee, and the
Ohio
United Way
.
Marguerite has received the Ohio Governor’s Award for
Community Action and the Brotherhood Award from
St.
John’sAMEChurch
in
WorthingtonOhio
. In 1989 she was awarded honorary membership in the
OhioStateBuilding
and
Construction Trades Council. And in 2005 she was
included in the book published by
HamlineUniversity
entitled One
Hundred Fifty Lives that Make a Difference.
Distinguished Career Award
John "Jack"
Marshall
Ford, B.S.S.W.
‘69
The next Distinguished Career Award recipient has taken a
non-traditional, but critical path, for a social work professional. John Marshall
Ford, known by every one as “Jack Ford”, is a 1969 B.S.S.W.
graduate of the Ohio State University College of Social Work
.
If any of you were in the horseshoe during the late 60’s, you
no doubt saw Jack on the field when he played for OSU for the legendary Coach
Woody Hayes. Woody, who believed in “paying forward” and instilled this
principle in those he coached which is reflected in Jack’s career.
After graduating from OhioState, Jack begam his professional career as a Counselor for the Ohio Youth Commission, then returned to college and earned a JD and an MS in Public Administration from the University of Toledo. In 1979, he became an instructor of African-American politics at the
University of Toledo and was on the faculty until 1994. In 1980, Jack was hired as Director, Substance Abuse by the Lucas County
Mental Health Board where he consolidated several Toledo-area agencies
dealing with substance abuse under one institution, Substance Abuse Services,
Inc, where he became Executive Director.
In 1987, Jack was elected to the Toledo City Council and served as Council President in 1993. He served seven years (1994-2001) in the Ohio House of Representatives and was the Democratic
Leader of the Ohio House for three of those year.
In 2001 Jack was elected the first
African American Mayor of Toledo.
During his tenure as Mayor, Jack
announced the creation of Care Net, a program
that provided health care coverage to people who were not originally
eligible;
created The Mayor’s Coalition for Prostate
Cancer Awareness and Education; and,
foundedSubstance Abuse Services Inc.
Distinguished Recent Alum Award Kenneth R. Yeager, Ph.D. ‘99
Dr. Kenneth Yeager is the first recipient to receive the
Alumni Hall of Fame Distinguished Recent Alumni award from The Ohio State
University College of Social Work. Ken’s most recent degree from the College
is his Ph.D. in 1999. He also received the B.S.S.W. in 1992 and his MSW in
1993 for the College.
Ken is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor in The Ohio
State University’s College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. In addition,
he is the Co-Director of the OSU Collaborative for Integrative Behavioral
Healthcare Education.
Since 2001, Ken has served at Director of Quality at the
OSUHardingHospital
. From
1996-2001 he was the Clinical Director OSU Hospital East Talbot Hall. And from 1998-2001 he was the Treating Clinician to The
Ohio
State
University’s Department of Athletics Program for Substances of Abuse.
Since 2004, Ken has served as Administrative Director for The
National Football League Players Association, Program for Substances of Abuse
ERM Associates Inc.
Ken has served as Lecturer and Field Instructor for the
College for more than 10 years. He has been published in 13 journals and has published 3 books.
His awards include induction into Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Delta
Mu, (the social work National Honor Society), and the receipt of the
Outstanding Field Instructor award in 1999 from the College.
Ken serves on the Board of Directors of Partners for Active
Living and is an Editorial Board Member of Brief Treatment and Crisis
Intervention: A Journal of Evidence Based Practice. He also serves as
Editorial Review Editor and a Book Reviewer for Oxford University Press, and
is a Fellow of the
AmericanCollege
of Mental
Health.
