Dexter Voisin, a leading scholar whose academics and practice focuses on the complex interplay of racism, violence and health, has been named as the next dean of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Voisin, who has been dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work since 2019, will join CWRU in January. 

“The Mandel School’s renown in education and research drew an extraordinary pool of candidates,” Provost Ben Vinson said in a statement released on the Case website. “Dexter’s success in Canada, coupled with the sophistication and empathy demonstrated in his research, indicated that he is the right person to lead our social work school in this moment.”

During the past academic year, Voisin also co-chaired Toronto University’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force, which presented an 86-page report to university leaders in March; within two weeks the president, provost and vice president for human resources and equity announced that they had accepted every one of the task force’s 56 recommendations. 

Voisin was elected last year to the Board of Directors for the Society for Social Work and Research and selected to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Voisin spent two decades at the University of Chicago. He has authored or co-authored more than 155 articles in peer-reviewed journals and secured more than $11 million in external research support. In 2019 he published America the Beautiful and Violent: Black Youth and Neighborhood Trauma in Chicago, which blended insightful narratives from some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods with trenchant analyses of the policies and practices that helped create them. 

The book also recommends approaches and programs that can promote resiliency in the face of structural inequality. He is an active scholar currently leading two National Institutes of Health grants; one examines the impact of syndemic violence on health outcomes and the other assesses COVID-19 testing uptake among Black residents of Chicago.

“I am exceptionally honored by this opportunity to work alongside the students, staff, faculty, alumni and supporters of one of the premier social work schools in the country,” Voisin said. “I look forward to joining the university next year.”

Voisin will succeed Dr. Grover C. Gilmore, who has been Mandel dean for the past twenty years.

Sharon E. Milligan, associate dean for academic affairs and student services, associate professor of social work, and chair of the Master of Social Work (MSW) program, will serve as interim dean for the balance of the year.

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