Social Work dean made permanent

After 17 months as interim dean, Richard Gelles has been named permanent dean of the School of Social Work, University President Judith Rodin announced yesterday. "I feel good," Gelles said. "You couldn't start a career out and expect this." Gelles came to Penn in 1998 as a faculty member and now also serves as the Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence -- a position he will continue to hold during his deanship. He was appointed interim dean in September 2001 after the departure of Ira Schwartz, who left the post to assume the role of provost at Temple University. Gelles "has been a great leader for the school during this interim period," Rodin said, "and we are delighted to be able to make it official." University bylaws dictate that a national search must be conducted when a dean position is vacated, but according to Rodin, Gelles was the best candidate. "We saw some truly outstanding candidates, and we got some very good ideas," Rodin said. "But when Rich was interviewed, everyone was extraordinarily impressed by his vision [and] his understanding of issues facing social work." Gelles -- who will continue teaching at Penn about child welfare and domestic violence -- said that one of his goals is to bring the School of Social Work into the forefront. "We have felt for the past five or six years that the school is one of Penn's hidden gems, partly because we are a small school," Gelles said. "We want to be a well-known jewel on Penn's crown," he added, saying that a way to accomplish this is "to renovate and update the building," which was constructed in 1966. The School of Social Work's Caster Building at 3701 Locust Walk "sits in the shadow of the new [Wharton School's] Huntsman building," he said. Before coming to Penn, Gelles worked on the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act and frequently testified before Congress. He was appointed to the Kinship Care Advisory Panel of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families in 1998. Associate Dean of Social Work Roberta Iversen said she is thrilled about Gelles' appointment. "I think he brings phenomenal passion and concern for human welfare and an uncommon ability to think in the future while respecting the past," Iversen said. Before coming to Penn, Gelles served as the dean of arts and sciences at the University of Rhode Island, where he also directed the Family Violence Research Program. He is currently working on research projects in Florida, examining how child abuse and neglect cases are impacted when county sheriffs have authority over the case, rather than child welfare agencies.

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