Crown Family School Dean Appointment

From: President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker
Subject: Crown Family School Dean Appointment
Date: May 30, 2023

We are pleased to announce that Deborah Gorman-Smith, the Emily Klein Gidwitz Professor, has been reappointed dean of the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

Deborah has served as dean since 2017. A thoughtful and inspiring leader, she has strategically expanded the school’s influence and impact across the University, the South Side, and beyond. Deborah oversaw the establishment of the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development in partnership with the Biological Sciences Division. She has expanded academic programs, including through the creation of a new master’s degree program in social sector leadership and nonprofit management, along with a new undergraduate minor in the College that broadens student pathways in the school’s five-year AB/AM program and other master’s programs. 

As someone who is deeply committed to supporting urban education, Deborah led efforts to bring the University’s Urban Education Institute into the school, expanding existing collaborations with local educators and identifying new ways to improve educational outcomes. She created the school’s Office of Community Partnership and Impact, which has advanced strategic partnerships to collaboratively tackle pressing social issues impacting Chicago and the region. Under Deborah’s leadership and in coordination with the Office of Civic Engagement, the school launched a free nonprofit management certificate program for early to mid-career nonprofit professionals on the South Side. She was integral to developing the University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholars program and has initiated community relationships that help integrate scholarly research with real-world policy and practice, including through a partnership with the Chicago Department of Housing that is examining how housing policies can promote wealth building in communities. Deborah has advised University and city leaders on public safety and violence intervention efforts on the South Side. She has also stewarded several major gifts, most notably a $75 million gift from James and Paula Crown and their family that led to the renaming of the school and which supports faculty hiring, research, scholarships, and community engagement in Chicago and around the world. 

A widely recognized scholar in her field, Deborah is the faculty director of the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention, devoted to studying and stemming the underlying causes of youth violence through evidence-based collaborative interventions that focus on families and communities, linking them with schools, social service organizations, and policy makers. Her research has been published extensively and covers areas related to youth violence, including the developmental impact of exposure to violence; risk for involvement in violence; and the effects of family-focused, school-based, and community-level preventive interventions. 
 
Deborah’s reappointment was informed by the recommendations of a faculty advisory committee. We thank the committee members for their valuable contributions to this process.

Deborah’s exceptional leadership has had a tremendous impact on the Crown Family School. We firmly believe that she will continue making significant and far-reaching contributions in the years ahead. Please join us in congratulating her on this well-deserved reappointment.