Announcement
September 15, 2011

Professor Waldfogel Named Compton Foundation Centennial Professor for The Prevention of Children's and Youth Problems

Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) Dean Jeanette Takamura announced that the Trustees of Columbia University have approved the nomination of Professor Jane Waldfogel to be the Compton Foundation Centennial Professor for the Prevention of Children's and Youth Problems. She will succeed Professor Emerita Sheila Kamerman.

The author or co-author of more than 100 peer reviewed articles in top multidisciplinary journals, six books, and more than 30 book chapters, Professor Waldfogel is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading experts on the impact of public policies on child and family well-being. She has received a number of prestigious citations for her work, including the Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize from the Social Service Review in 2008, the Society for Social Work Research Award for Best Scholarly Contribution in 2003, and the Vernon Prize from the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management in 2002.

Waldfogel’s most recent books, Britain’s War on Poverty (2010) and What Children Need (2006), have garnered praise in many circles. They have increased understanding of the impact of public policy upon poor children and families and of the essential conditions under which children thrive. In Britain’s War on Poverty, Professor Waldfogel compared British and U.S. social policies, revealing how Britain successfully reduced child poverty over a decade (1999-2009), moving from having the third highest child poverty rate (26% of British children were poor) among all industrialized nations to halving the rate in absolute terms to below 13%.

“Professor Waldfogel’s work offers substantiation that focused policies can make a difference in the lives of poor children. She is an international expert in social policy and greatly deserving of this honor,” said Dean Takamura. A former child protective services social worker, Waldfogel is also the author of The Future of Child Protection: How to Break the Cycle of Abuse and Neglect and numerous articles and book chapters about preventing child maltreatment.

Jane Waldfogel is an active researcher, having served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator for at least 17 projects, funded by numerous sources including the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trust, the William T. Grant Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The Sutton Trust, as well as the National Institute of Child Health Development. While a member of the faculty of the Columbia University School of Social Work, Jane Waldfogel has also been a visiting professor at the Center for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics since 2009. At the Columbia University School of Social Work, she has taught the social welfare policy, women and social policy, policy practice, child and family policy, and advanced methods for policy analysis courses.

Professor Waldfogel has an outstanding record of service and leadership to the University and the School. She is an elected member of the School of Social Work’s Committee on Academic Appointments and has served on numerous other School committees including the Search Committee and the Curriculum Committee. Recently appointed to the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Committee and the University’s new Tenure Research Advisory Committee, she is also a Co-Director of the Developmental Core and of the Children, Youth, and Families Signature Research Area and a member of the Steering Committee of the Columbia Population Research Center.

Professor Waldfogel has served on various National Academy of Sciences Committees since 2001 and has been an elected member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Policy Council since 2008. She serves on several advisory and editorial boards and is also an active member of the American Economic Association, the Population Association of America, and the Society for Research in Child Development.

Warm congratulations are extended to new Compton Foundation Centennial Professor for The Prevention of Children's and Youth Problems Jane Waldfogel.

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About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)
For 112 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been a leader in the education of professionals for careers in practice, policy, and administration. Located in New York City, the School offers a master’s and a doctoral program which are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With a signature curriculum that features multidisciplinary courses taught by leading scholars and practitioners and rich field education, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical and community practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, research and innovation in the 21st Century.