Dr. John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development and David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, has agreed to step in to be the Interim Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems (CRSP). In addition, a new initiative within CRSP of a Visiting Scholar position has been created, and the first Visiting Scholar will be Dr. Waverly Duck, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. Read more.

Professor Christina Newhill will be presenting at the 2021 Pitt Diversity Forum which runs from July 26-29. July 28th at 10:45 am, she will be presenting a workshop with Pitt colleagues Marianne Novy, Lori Delale-O'Connor, and Jerry Dickinson on Combatting Oppression in Transracial Adoption. See full schedule and register here.

MSW alumna Cami Teacoach started VolunTOTS of Pittsburgh, which has 1,100 members on its Facebook page so far and is working to obtain its 501(c)3 nonprofit designation. Each month, the group organizes activities for young kids to learn the joys of volunteering. Read more in Next Pittsburgh.

Doctoral alumnus Craig Sewall Craig, reviewed the new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study and was impressed with its large size (1,938 participants), as well as the fact that it tracked people’s usage, thus avoiding any self-reporting errors. However, he was skeptical of how the researchers defined addiction. Read more.

Norma passed away at the age of 88 at her home in West Chester, on June 15, 2021. She was born in Cambridge, N.Y. on June 17, 1932. Norma went on to get her M.S.W. in social work at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1961. After graduating, she began her career as a medical social worker at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Read more.