Alum Suk-hee Kim (SSW’01) Wins CSWE Award for Distinguished Recent Contributions to Social Work Education
BU School of Social Work (BUSSW) MSW alum Suk-hee Kim, PhD (SSW’01) was recognized with one of the most prestigious honors in U.S. social work education by the Council for Social Work Education (CSWE) which presented her with its Distinguished Recent Contributions to Social Work Education Award.
Dr. Kim is a federally funded researcher with extensive expertise in gerontological social work, opioid treatment, and social work education. As an associate professor of social work at Northern Kentucky University (NKU), Dr. Kim established the university’s first gerontology curriculum and made NKU the first university in the region to join the international Age-Friendly University Initiative. She also founded the Rising Hope for Aging initiative, connecting social work students with a public housing community where they provide critical assistance for its low-income senior population.
In an article published by The River City News, Dr. Kim says, “To receive this unanimous recognition from the CSWE Board of Directors is a great honor because the council supports quality social work education, provides opportunities for leadership, and plays a central role in achieving the profession’s goals of social and economic justice.”
CSWE is the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States and home of numerous centers and initiatives dedicated to promoting social work and social work education. Dr. Kim was recently appointed to a three-year term on CSWE’s Commission on Research which establishes research priorities for the national organization.
In addition to CSWE’s 2021 Distinguished Recent Contributions to Social Work Education Award, Dr. Kim is the recipient of BUSSW’s 2021 Outstanding Career in Social Work Award and several NKU awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity; Inclusive Excellence Faculty Leadership; and NKU’s VA Champions of Success Civilian Faculty Award. She has also received CSWE’s 2019 Commission for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice Community Partnership Action Inaugural Award; the Korean American Social Work Educators Association’s 2016 Junior Career Achievement Award and 2020 Middle Career Achievement Award; and CSWE’s 2020 Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education Community Impact Award.
Dr. Kim was recently selected as NKU’s Faculty Diversity Fellow, a role that will allow her to advance NKU’s goal of promoting inclusive excellence and global awareness through special projects, committee service, and other strategic initiatives.
Learn more about Dr. Kim’s work and research in her CSWE Awardees profile.