Alumni Notes: Summer 2016

Class of 1996

Class of 1970

Robert T. Constable, DSW, most recently published “Social Work with Families: Content and Process (Second Edition)” as well as “School Social Work: Practice, Policy, and Research (Eighth Edition).” Constable says he remains active, writing in three core areas of school social work, social work with families, values and ethics. Constable says he is very grateful for the scholarly conviction about the nature of practice and the place of values that he found in my faculty mentors Lloyd Setleis, Hal Lewis, and Mollie Utkoff.

Class of 1971

Harriette Mishkin, MSW, is currently planning for retirement. Mishkin has begun her encore career as a volunteer, contributing my interests and expertise to three organizations: The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (as a tour guide), The National Museum of American Jewish History (in Visitor Services), and Penn’s Village (a program providing volunteer social and support services to Philadelphia’s Center City residents who wish to “age in place”). Mishkin continues to work part-time in her own consulting firm, Performance Concepts (recently celebrating its 40th anniversary), as an organization consultant and staff development professional. Mishkin also teaches in the Non-Profit Management program at Gratz College.

Class of 1981

Debbie Feierman, MSW, formerly Regional Compliance Manager at Aetna, has gained employment at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Feierman was has long been involved in health care policy and consumer education of several major pieces of health legislation, including the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which ushered in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which legislated the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug benefit, the Affordable Care Act, implementing Health Insurance Marketplace for the uninsured, and most recently, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) making sweeping reforms to payment under Medicare Part B.

Class of 1985

Audrey Sussman, MSW, is the Director of the Anxiety Control Center. Sussman recently opened another office and is currently in New York City specializing in cognitive-behavioral-hypnosis for relief of worry, panic and fear.

Class of 1990

Robi Ludwig, MSW, recently published “Your Best Age is Now: Embrace an Ageless Mindset, Reenergize Your Dreams, and Live a Soul-Satisfying Life.” In it, Ludwig offers specific advice on how women can revolutionize their own concepts of midlife. Ludwig is a nationally known psychotherapist, award-winning reporter, author, and is a relationship contributor for Investigation Discover Network’s Scorned. She is also a regular guest on CNN, FOX News, and Headline News.

Class of 1996

Lonjeté T. Nias, MSW, is currently a school social worker in New Jersey as well as a mental health professional at a county jail. Nias received a Clinical Certificate in Bowen Family Systems Theory from Rutgers University School of Social Work this year.

Class of 1997

Melissa Haddad Malaga, MSW, is opening an upscale steakhouse in New York City this fall called Maxwell’s Chophouse.

Class of 2008

Kiasha Huling, MSW, was promoted to Director of Outreach and Social Work at Bernett L. Johnson Sayre Health Center. Huling developed the first social work program at Sayre Health Center in West Philadelphia in 2011. The program employs therapeutic support, case management and advocacy to improve access to care and overall wellness in the area. She’s also a field instructor and trains aspiring social workers for Temple and Widener Universities She was also recognized in this year’s “Who’s Next: Health” by Billy Penn, a Philadelphia-based news outlet.

Class of 2010

Percival Fisher, Jr., MSW, is a medical social worker with an interest in the medical field and understanding the person from a biopsycho-social perspective. Fisher has been accepted into Gywnedd-Mercy University’s Accelerated BSN Program and will begin the program in January 2017. Fisher also recently became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) as of July 2016 in addition to being certified as a Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) from the International Association of Trauma Professionals. Fisher continues to apply the clinical skills learned from SP2 in the mental health, clinical research, and healthcare settings.

Class of 2011

Victoria Lynn West, MSW, was previously a nursing home social worker and is now an administrator at a non-profit dance school / ministry. West is co-author of “Created with Purpose: Unlocking Your Dreams & Fulfilling the Desires of Your Heart,” which was published in 2016. She is also co-leader of “Social Sense,” a social skills group for adolescents (ages 9 to 12) with autism, ADHD, and other developmental disabilities.

Class of 2012

Daniela Marie O’Keefe, MSW, recently earned a Master of Science in Health Informatics at Temple University in May 2016 and also accepted a project management at Penn Corporate Offices.

The above information has been submitted by SP2 alumni. To let your fellow alumni know what you’ve been up to and to be featured in Alumni Notes, send your submission to sp2news@sp2.upenn.edu.