Grace Abbott School of Social Work welcomes a new director and faculty members

Von Nebbitt, Ph.D.

Von Nebbitt, Ph.D., is the new director of the Grace Abbott School of Social Work.

Nebbitt earned his doctorate in social work from Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and has held leadership positions at Howard University in Washington, DC; Jane Addams College of Social Work in the University of Illinois, Chicago; and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. He has developed curricula with rigorous research components; collaborated with community partners and government organizations; and secured grants for a variety of projects. Nebbitt has worked extensively with youth in the juvenile justice system and studied the impact of public housing on youth and families.

As a scholar, Nebbitt has an outstanding research and publication record in the areas of community and administrative practice; human behavior and the social environment; and community health and urban development.

GASSW faculty and staff are excited for Nebbitt to lead their school with a commitment to students, social justice, community engagement, and research. They express sincere gratitude to Henry D'Souza, Ph.D., for stepping in as interim director during this transition and to Ellen Rice for her leadership as assistant director of the school.

Read a welcome message from Von Nebbitt.

Heidi Rueda, Ph.D.

Heidi Rueda, Ph.D., will join the faculty as the John E. Christensen Community Chair in Child Welfare. Rueda is an UNO alumna and earned her doctorate from Arizona State University. Her research interests include adolescent dating and sexuality; intimate partner and teen dating violence; disability; spirituality and wellbeing; minority and underserved youth populations; design and evaluation of developmentally-grounded and culturally-grounded preventative interventions.

Laurel Sariscsany, Ph.D.

GASSW alumna Laurel Sariscsany, PhD, will join the faculty as an assistant professor. Sariscsany earned her PhD in social work from Columbia University in New York City and has worked as a policy analyst at Open Sky Policy Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sariscsany’s research interests include child poverty and earned income tax credits and its impacts. She has conducted research on gender inequality in wealth and income and has provided expert testimony for the Nebraska Unicameral on these issues.

About the Grace Abbott School of Social Work

The mission of the Grace Abbott School of Social Work is to educate students to become highly qualified social workers who serve people of all ages and influence the systems that affect them, to advance knowledge through teaching and research, and to engage with diverse communities to promote socially just societies. The School offers a offers a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and a Master in Social Work.

Visit socialwork.unomaha.edu or email graceabbott@unomaha.edu for more information