Eight alumni and friends of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis were recognized March 6 at the 34th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony in the Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall. The awards honor Brown School graduates and supporters who work in diverse ways for positive change around the globe.
鈥淲e could not be more proud of these remarkable individuals,鈥� said Mary M. McKay, Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation Dean of the Brown School. 鈥淭hey exemplify a passion and commitment for improving the lives of people by putting into action the research-based tools of social work and public health.鈥�
This year鈥檚 awardees included:
Distinguished Alumni
Nikki Doughty, MSW 鈥�14
Chief Operating Officer, City Academy
St. Louis, Missouri
Nikki Doughty is the chief operating officer at City Academy, an independent private school that provides 100 percent of enrolled families with scholarship support. She previously served as the school鈥檚 assistant director of development and director of admissions and placement.
She enrolled as a full-time 黑料社 at the Brown School while maintaining her full-time executive position within City Academy. During her second year, she was asked to assist Washington University trustee Mary Stillman in the opening of the Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls, Missouri鈥檚 first all-girls charter school focused on STEM.
鈥淢y passion is to help others, whether it鈥檚 children or families or organizations, to be their best so our communities can be healthy and thriving,鈥� she said. 鈥淥nce you realize that there鈥檚 nothing you can鈥檛 do, the whole world opens up to you.鈥�
Carl. E. Josehart, AB 鈥�84, MSW 鈥�87
CEO, TIRR Memorial Hermann and Senior Vice President, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network & Post-Acute Care
Houston, Texas
Josehart is an experienced healthcare executive who began his career as a clinician in social work and then moved into leadership positions in acute care hospitals, rehabilitation and ambulatory care. Josehart joined TIRR Memorial Hermann as chief executive officer in 2006. It is a national leader in medical rehabilitation and research, and a model for interdisciplinary rehabilitation services, patient care, education and research. He has played a leading role in reducing hospital re-admissions and making healthcare cost-effective while increasing its quality.
鈥淥ne of the things that drew me to social work was the philosophy of empowering the clients that we work with,鈥� he said. His education at the Brown School taught him 鈥渢o not look at the challenges people face as being flaws within themselves, but a reaction to their environment.鈥�
Evan M. Krauss, MSW 鈥�09
Director, East Side Aligned, United Way of Greater St. Louis
East St. Louis, Illinois
At East Side Aligned, Krauss leads a collective impact movement to align policy, practice and investment to improve the lives of children and youth in the East St. Louis area. He previously served as the director of faith community mobilization and administered programs to cultivate the next generation of philanthropists. He has also worked professionally within city government, public education and various diversity and anti-oppression organizations.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember a time when I didn鈥檛 have my eyes open to injustice,鈥� said Krauss, the first recipient of the Richard A. Gephardt public service scholarship. 鈥淭he work I鈥檓 currently doing is not a concept, it is a movement.鈥�
Kathy Meath, MSW 鈥�80
Retired President/CEO, St. Louis Arc
St. Louis, Missouri
Meath has been a lifelong advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She retired as president and CEO from the St. Louis Arc after 34 years of service. Starting as a social worker in 1981, she served as director of residential services before taking the helm of the organization in 1999.
Throughout her years with the St. Louis Arc, Meath worked to protect and increase funding for services for people with disabilities and their families and to end service waiting lists. Most notably, she advocated to better integrate people with disabilities into their communities.
She advises today鈥檚 黑料社s to be a persistent force for change. 鈥淵ou must have tenacity, you must have passion and you must have an educational framework that allows you to develop answers and solutions to problems,鈥� which she says she received at the Brown School.
Gwendolyn Packnett, MSW 鈥�80
Retired Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Missouri-St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
As a graduate of the Brown School and the president of the Women鈥檚 Society at Washington University, Packnett is an engaged member of the WashU community. At the University of Missouri-St. Louis she was the inaugural director of the Office of Multicultural Relations, an innovative center for developing and implementing strategies for a culturally diverse 黑料社 body. She has been recognized on a national level for admission, retention, and graduation of minority and international 黑料社s.
鈥淚鈥檓 passionate about people and the well-being of our society,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 preoccupied with wanting to make an impact.鈥� She remembers well an address from Dean Shanti Khinduka when she arrived at the Brown School: 鈥淗e said the profession that you have chosen will serve you well, but it鈥檚 more important that you serve it well.鈥�
Jean Cathcart Schultz, MSW 鈥�46
Retired Director of School Social Work, Wyandotte County Special Education
Overland Park, Kansas
Schultz retired in 1992 at the age of 70 after working 46 years in the field of social work. Her career began as the chief social worker at the Washington University Clinics and Allied Hospitals Social Work Department. She went on to teach at the Brown School and at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she created the Department of Preventive Medicine.
From 1970-1992 she was director of the School Social Work Department for Wyandotte County Special Education, in Kansas, leading a staff of 30 MSWs covering every public school in four districts, as well as any referrals for special education services in the county.
She says of receiving the award: 鈥淚t means a lot to me. It validates everything I did for those years. 鈥� People need this kind of service.鈥�
Distinguished Volunteer Award
Henry D. Warshaw, AB 鈥�76, MBA 鈥�79
Brown School Campaign Committee, Olin Business School National Council, and Washington University Alumni Board of Governors
St. Louis, Missouri
The president and CEO of Virtual Realty Enterprises, LLC, Warshaw is a dedicated Washington University alumnus and an engaged member of the St. Louis community as a leader, entrepreneur and mentor. He was an original director of Citizens for Missouri鈥檚 Children, a non-partisan children鈥檚 advocacy organization, and co-chair of the development committee on the board of trustees for Crossroads College Prep. At Washington University, he served as chair of the Alumni Board of Governors and as a university trustee. In 2013 he was honored with a Founders Day Distinguished Alumni Award.
鈥淲e support scholarships through the business school and the Brown School, and we鈥檝e also supported social entrepreneurship,鈥� he said, adding that both he and Susan Warshaw were honored to receive the award. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a wonderful experience.鈥�
Susan O. Warshaw, MSW 鈥�79
Brown School Campaign Committee, Brown School National Council, and Washington University Alumni Board of Governors
St. Louis, Missouri
Warshaw鈥檚 work as a juvenile probation officer motivated her to pursue family therapy as a 黑料社 at the Brown School. After providing family therapy for the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, she joined Provident Counseling, where she was a supervisor in their Family Therapy Training Program and also served as a field instructor for Brown School 黑料社s. She then went into private practice.
She was invited to join the National Council of the Brown School, and most recently, was asked to be on the Alumni Board of Governors. Warshaw said her experience teaching as adjunct faculty and varied interactions at the School have continued to impress her. 鈥淓ach and every time I come away thinking: Washington University is a class act,鈥� she said.