GWB dean search committee named

Khinduka announces retirement

A search committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work has been appointed by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

Shanti Khinduka
Shanti Khinduka

Shanti K. Khinduka, Ph.D., announced that on June 30 he will retire as dean after 30 years of service. After a sabbatical, Khinduka will retain his position as the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor.

The 14-member committee will be chaired by Enola E. Proctor, Ph.D., the Frank J. Bruno Professor of Social Work Research.

“Shanti Khinduka has led the School of Social Work brilliantly for three decades,” Wrighton said. “In addition to the crucial role he has had in the development of this school, he has provided incomparable leadership to the social work profession both nationally and internationally.

Search committee members

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has appointed Enola E. Proctor, Ph.D., the Frank J. Bruno Professor of Social Work Research, to chair a 14-member dean search committee. Wrighton also named the following individuals to the committee:

John C. Bricout, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work; Diane E. Elze, Ph.D., assistant professor of social work; Matthew O. Howard, Ph.D., associate professor of social work; Nancy L. Morrow-Howell, Ph.D., professor of social work; Sima Needleman, a 1974 alumna and member of the GWB National Council; Marcia T. Ollie, Ph.D. candidate; M. Heliana Ramirez, master of social work student; Estelle Rochman, director of the Office of Field Education; Michael Sherraden, Ph.D., the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development; Martha Storandt, Ph.D., professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences; Gautam N. Yadama, Ph.D., associate professor of social work; Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor of Social Work; and Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., the Samuel B. Guze Professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine.

“His vision and leadership have had a tremendous impact on the University as well, lifting our visibility and building our identity as a major research institution.”

Khinduka’s tenure is one of the longest in the nation for a social work dean and the longest of the current University deans.

Highlights of his term include GWB’s receiving top ranking by peer schools of social work; construction of the $13 million Goldfarb Hall and renovation of Brown Hall; formation of centers of pathbreaking research in areas such as addiction, mental-health services, social development and support of American Indians; remarkable growth of the research portfolio of the social work faculty; development of an innovative curriculum; and establishment of a unique program of capacity building for St. Louis agencies.

The school has also substantially increased its endowment; established a number of named professorships for faculty; greatly expanded the number of scholarships for students; broadened and deepened its programs of interdisciplinary collaboration; and houses the largest number of international students in any U.S. social work school.

Wrighton plans to have new leadership in place by July 1.