Feature Photo: Dr. Diana DiNitto, at right, presents the school’s Lora Lee Pederson Teaching Excellence Award to Clinical Professor Ruth Rubio.
AUSTIN, Texas – Two members of the School of Social Work faculty received special recognition for their contributions during the 2011-12 academic year.
Clinical Professor Ruth Rubio received the Lora Lee Pederson Teaching Excellence Award. The award is based on evidence of teaching effectiveness, development of innovative teaching and introduction of new technqiues. Lora Lee Pederson was professor and first director of the School of Social Work, 1950-63.
Rubio, a member of the clinical faculty, retired in May. In addition to her legacy of teaching and service at the School of Social Work, Rubio established and co-taught the university’s Maymester Study Abroad course in London entitled “Roots of Social and Economic Justice.” The purpose of the course is to deepen university students’ understanding of the rights and responsibilities of being a good citizen in an increasingly global society and to promote cross-cultural learning.
Rubio received her master’s degree in social work from UT Austin.
Ruth Fagan-Wilen, Ph.D., LCSW, received the Lecturer Teaching Excellence Award. The award honors a social work lecturer who has demonstrated the highest levels of excellence in classroom teaching through the transmission of knowledge, social work values, and professional competence. Lecturers are well-regarded and successful members of the social work community and serve a critical role in teaching the School of Social Work’s curriculum.
Fagan-Wilen has taught clinical courses in family and group therapy at the graduate level for 18 years at two schools of social work, and teaches in the clinical track and is the Adjunct Faculty Liaison for the program. She also has a private practice in marriage and family therapy with a specialty in women’s issues.
Fagan-Wilen received her Ph.D. in social work from UT Austin.