Michelle Levy awarded 2024 Suzanne & Harry Statland Research Staff Award

In recognition of contributions to students and the teaching mission in the KU School of Social Welfare, Michelle Levy is honored with the Harry and Suzanne Statland Research Staff Award for the 2023-2024 academic year. For 25 years, Levy has positively impacted the social work knowledge base and directly supported value-added educational opportunities for nearly 700 MSW and BSW students.

Levy has published and presented nationally and internationally. Her work includes leadership of a program that received the inaugural Academic Excellence Award from the American Public Human Services Association. She has led 20 multi-year research, education and training projects, bringing in $11.7 million in federal, state and foundation funding to the school. She is currently director of Integrated Health Scholars, which aims to increase the number of social work professionals prepared to work in integrated health care settings in rural and underserved communities. This program has helped to address critical workforce shortages in Kansas and Western Missouri while providing substantial scholarships to clinical social work students.

From 2018-2022, Levy also led the Kansas Serves Native American Families initiative, collaborating with KU social welfare faculty, research staff, and tribal and community partners to provide research-informed support to improve the lives of Indigenous families, and steering the program through the challenges of the pandemic. 

We are proud to call Levy one of our own, thankful for her tremendous contributions, and excited to see what she’ll bring next to the School and our profession.