Boston Globe: The BUSSW Community Reflects on Continuing Impact of Dean Emeritus Hubie Jones
Following a Boston Globe profile on Dean Emeritus Hubie Jones and his wife Katherine, BUSSW community members wrote letters to the editor describing how his work has impacted them. Faculty Emerita Prof. Betty J. Ruth and alum Susan Levy Perry (MSW’80) spoke about working and studying under Jones’ leadership, highlighting how he connected the academic side of social work to real life.
Excerpt from “Makings of a Social Worker: Hubie Jones Has Lit the Way for BU Mentees,” originally posted in the Boston Globe:
“He is famous for telling people that institutions have “souls” and that leaders must engage in soul work. Years later, I am grateful to have worked for someone who embodied that rare quality of institutional soul. His legacy includes thousands of social workers, like me, who consider him their role model, their “North Star,” for community-engaged careers centered on promoting justice.”
– Betty J. Ruth
“He taught a seminar titled “Perspectives on American Society,” which I was fortunate to take and which shaped my understanding of the cultural, political, and economic forces affecting our country and the groups and individuals living in it. The reading, discussion, and field trips forever influenced my involvement in the community, as well as my career as a social work clinician.”
– Susan Levy Perry (MSW’80)