Dr. Carmen Ortiz Hendricks Appointed Dean of Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel has announced the appointment of Professor Carmen Ortiz Hendricks as the Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

Hendricks came to Wurzweiler in 2005 as professor of social work and associate dean. She has been serving as interim dean of Wurzweiler for the past year. In that time, she has worked with faculty, chair Froma Benerofe and the Board of Overseers, President Joel and Provost Mort Lowengrub to advance the school in critical directions: increasing enrollment, fundraising for scholarships and special projects, working with the Jewish Community, partnering with the Washington Heights community, and collaborating with other departments throughout the University. Hendricks and the faculty have also been moving aggressively to offer pathways to social work education that will continue to have Wurzweiler be a leader in the field of social work. "I look forward to continuing my collaboration with Dr. Hendricks as she steps into her role as dean," said President Joel. "I have every confidence that she will continue to raise Wurzweiler to new levels of prominence in the field of social work." Hendricks received her MSW from Adelphi University School of Social Work and her doctorate in Social Welfare from Wurzweiler. Prior to joining YU, she taught at the Hunter College School of Social Work and Stony Brook University/SUNY. Hendricks has an extensive teaching and publication history. She and her two colleagues, Jeanne Finch and Cheryl Franks, are working on the second edition of Learning to Teach/Teaching to Learn: A Guide for Social Work Field Education, which is a best-selling textbook for CSWE Press. Hendricks is currently serving a second term (2012-2015) as commissioner on the Commission on Accreditation for the Council on Social Work Education, having also served on the Board of CSWE. She was president of the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (1996-98) and is a founding member of the Latino Social Work Task Force. In 2008, Hendricks was awarded a three-week Fulbright Specialist Scholarship to Israel where she taught classes at Hebrew University, Ben Gurion University and Yeshiva University in Jerusalem. The following year, she was inducted as a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and as a Social Work Pioneer by NASW. In 2010, Hendricks was appointed by the Governor to New York City’s Citizens Review Panel that reviews child welfare policies and services. She is also the principal investigator on a $500,000 U.S. Children’s Bureau grant (2009-2013) to develop the child welfare workforce. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am proud to have been appointed dean by President Joel," said Hendricks. "I am blessed with a distinguished faculty and a dedicated administrative staff to help Wurzweiler blaze new trails in social work education. Together we have many ideas about how to continue to build our program. We hope to expand our collaborations with the Jewish Community, expand our Certificate in Jewish Communal Service and develop a new Certificate in Jewish Philanthropy. We will continue to work with the Washington Heights community through our Wurzweiler Community Partnership and we want Wurzweiler to be the premier international school of social work with a global agenda that addresses diversity, human rights and social justice.”