Helen Graber

helen.graber@socwk.utah.edu

Specialties: Public Policy Analysis and Administration, Human Welfare Issues, Women, Community Building and Practice.

Classes Taught: "Women's Issues in Social Work and Society."

Favorite Quote:
"A woman's reach is bounded only by what her mind accepts and her heart allows" - Belle Smith Spafford

Dr. Helen Graber is the Belle S. Spafford Chair, which is dedicated to "improving the lives of women and their families in all their configurations." It is the only endowed Chair in social work in the country focused on this issue. Dr. Graber's interest in improving the lives of women has been well established during the past two decades, including six years serving on the Women's Commission for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and another six as Commission Chair. She joined the csw in January, 2001 and is working with an advisory committee made up of community leaders to identify and prioritize areas of work on behalf of women throughout the state of Utah.

Previously, Dr. Graber served as the Eastern Coordinator for the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, a statewide public information and advocacy organization focusing on human welfare issues such as criminal justice, aging, hunger and human rights. She has been Assistant Dean at both Columbia University School of Social Work in New York and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. She was Visiting Professor at the School of Social Work in Jena, Germany and in Berlin, Germany. She has served on the Board of Directors of CSWE and as the Missouri NASW Women's Issues Commission Chair.

Her teaching areas include women's issues; community development and practice; women in administration and leadership. Her writing has focused on self-help models of community building for the poor, especially women; sexual harassment; and women and leadership. Her early social work career was in public welfare and settlements.

Dr. Graber received her BA in Political Science from Lake Erie College; a Master of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; and her Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis and Administration from Saint Louis University.