Social work Prof. Ira M. Schwartz, a leading authority in the areas of juvenile justice, child welfare and children’s mental health, has been named the dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work, effective Aug. 1.
Schwartz, who has taught here since 1987, is director of the Center for the Study of Youth Policy and is a faculty associate for the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research.
In announcing Schwartz’s appointment, Penn President Sheldon Hackney said: “Ira Schwartz will continue the momentum of research, education and service that has made Penn’s School of Social Work among the nation’s best. Beyond his distinguished reputation and credentials, his commitment to active participation in the evolution of the social work profession made him the right person to become dean of the school.”
Penn Provost Michael Aiken added: “Ira Schwartz is a most distinguished social work educator and researcher. We look to him to build on the school’s excellent base, taking it to new heights.”
U-M School of Social Work Dean Paula Allen-Meares noted Schwartz’s “leadership at the Center for the Study of Youth Policy has been outstanding. His work is far-reaching and holds a number of implications for prevention as well as intervention on behalf of at-risk children.”
Schwartz previously was a senior fellow and director of the Center for the Study of Youth Policy in the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, served as administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Washington, D.C., and was executive director of the Washington Council on Crime and Delinquency in Seattle.
