Dr. Bill Farley received his undergraduate degrees in Industrial Administration from Yale University and Sociology from the University of Utah, Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Utah, and his doctorate degree’s in Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley and Educational Psychology from the University of Utah. He has been on the faculty of the College of Social Work since 1962 and currently serves as Director for the W.D. Goodwill Initiatives on Aging. Recently, Dr. Farley has also accepted the post of co-director of the BYU School of Social Work program in conjunction with his University of Utah positions. During his time with the College of Social Work, Dr. Farley has also served as Director of the Social Research Institute, Director of the Ph.D. Program, Director of the M.S.W. Program, and Associate Dean for Research. He has extensive community involvement experiences including youth rehabilitation, substance abuse, crisis intervention, and family therapy. His has numerous publications and has served on many academic and community committees in addition to being honored with several awards, most recently including the 2001 Goodwill Family Foundation Leadership Award and 2001 National Association of Social Workers, Utah Chapter, Lifetime Achievement Award. His current research interests include aging, mental health, case management, and rural social work practice.

Dr. Amanda Barusch received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Reed College in Portland, OR and her graduate degrees in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She has also completed the Management Development Program from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Dr. Barusch has been on the faculty of the College of Social Work since 1985 and also holds an appointment at the College of Nursing as an adjunct faculty in Gerontology. She also currently serves as a research faculty member for the W.D. Goodwill Initiatives on Aging. Additionally, Dr. Barusch has served as a visiting professor at Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work in St. Lois, MO. She is a prolific scholar in the area of gerontological social work. As such, she has numerous publications and has served on many academic and profession organization committees in addition to being honored with several awards, most recently including the 2002 Leadership Award from the Association for Gerontology Education– Social Work, the 2001 McPhee Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the 2001 Outstanding Professor Award. Dr. Barusch has a background in social planning and administration with the Government of Guam. Her research interests include aging policy, depression among the frail elderly, love and relationships in late life, and elderly women and poverty.

Dr. Reiko Hayashi received her undergraduate degree in Pharmacology from Toho University in Japan and graduate degrees in Social Work and Social Welfare from the University of Washington. Dr. Hayashi joined the faculty of the University of Utah College of Social Work as an assistant professor in 2001 and also serves as faculty for the W.D. Goodwill Initiatives on Aging. She is a member of the Commission on Disability and Persons with Disabilities under the Council on Social Work Education. Her research interests include environmental obstacles faced by people with disabilities, policies that facilitate the integration of people with disabilities into the community, and roles of social workers in the lives of people with disabilities. Recent scholarly and policy interests include the areas of aging and disabilities. She is currently working on a manuscript targeting Medicaid reform, a process evaluation of the Nursing Facility Portability Program of Utah, determining effective client-centered measures for children with disabilities and their families, and a secondary data analysis of recent public assistance data.

Ryan Engar received his undergraduate degree in Social Work from the University of Utah. He also pursued his graduate studies at the University of Utah and received his Master’s degree in Social Work. He is currently working towards the professional license in social work and serves as the Program Director of the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program. Ryan has been affiliated with NHN since 1999 in various volunteer, practicum, and administrative capacities.

In the fall of 2005 Paulette accepted the position of Administrative Assistant for the W. D. Goodwill Initiatives on Aging and Neighbors Helping Neighbors program. Paulette was previously employed by the University of Utah College of Social Work as an Executive Secretary in the M.S.W. Field Education department.