Inabel Burns Lindsay Education Leadership Award

Established in 2012, the Inabel Burns Lindsay Education Scholarship Award honors Howard University School of Social Work graduates who have made outstanding contributions to social work education. Recipients are selected by the Dean and recognized at the School’s annual awards ceremony in May.

Honorees are chosen based on their leadership at the local, national, or international level, as well as their research and scholarship, which reflect and advance the principles of the Black Perspective.

Dr. Cudore L. Snell, DSW, MSW has taught and conducted research at Howard University School of Social Work for the past 35 years. 

He began a career in social work after completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in
social work and psychology from the University of the Western Cape in 1974 and a Bachelor’s of Social Science honors degree in psychiatric social work from the University of Cape Town in 1975. In South Africa, he practiced rural and urban family social work with a specialization in childhood mental health. 

A Rotary International Scholarship in 1979 enabled Dr. Snell to pursue a Master of Social Work degree at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which he received in 1981. He later obtained a Doctor of Social Work degree from Howard University in 1989 where his dissertation research focused on help seeking behavior among young street males in Washington, DC. 

He has been involved in the School’s International Service Learning Program to Cape Town, South Africa for the past eleven years. As the lead prevention specialist, his international research centers on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders among pregnant mothers who engage in risky drinking in the wine lands areas of South Africa. 

He is the former chair of the Council on Social Work Education’s Global Commission for Social Work Education and is a Social Work Pioneer from the NASW. 

He is an active Management Committee member of United States International Council on Social Welfare and the NASW International Committee. Dr. Snell served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Interim Dean and Dean for 10 years at Howard University School of Social Work. He currently serves as the Assistant Provost for International Programs at Howard University while he remains on the faculty as a full professor.

Dr. Michael A. Lindsey is a noted scholar in the fields of child and adolescent mental health, as well as a leader in the search for knowledge and solutions to generational poverty and inequality. He is the Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work at NYU Silver School of Social Work, and an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow.

Additionally, Dr. Lindsey led the working group of experts supporting the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health, which created the report Ring the Alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice (NAP) in Social Work and Fellow of the American Academy of Social work and Social Welfare. He was also appointed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF). 

Prior to being named NYU Silver’s Dean, Dr. Lindsey was the Constance and Martin Silver Professor of Poverty Studies and Executive Director of the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Dr. Lindsey serves on the editorial boards of the following journals: Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Psychiatric Services, and School Mental Health. The politics news outlet City & State New York has recognized him in the 2022 and 2023 Higher Education Power 100 lists, as well as the 2021 Mental Health Power 50 list.

He holds a Ph.D. in social work and MPH from the University of Pittsburgh, and MSW from Howard University, and a BA in sociology from Morehouse College. Dr. Lindsey also completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Gloria Batiste-Roberts serves as the Director of the Thomas F. Freeman Center for Forensic Excellence at Texas Southern University and adjunct professor of Social Work. She also serves as a Permanency Convener for Children’s Protective Services.

She received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from Texas Southern University (TSU), her MSW degree from Howard University and a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Texas, School of Public Health.

For 29½ years she worked full time at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as a Child Protective Services Supervisor. She retired on August 31, 2003. While working at CPS, she also worked for 21 years, part-time, at Ben Taub Hospital as a social worker in the emergency room. For eight years, she did private therapy at a facility for delinquents and for other youth on adjudicated probation.

For 38 years, Dr. Batiste-Roberts served as assistant Debate Coach of the TSU Debate Team, along with the renowned Dr. Thomas F. Freeman, Head Coach Emeritus. She was among his most outstanding students.

Dr. Batiste-Roberts has served as Head Coach of the TSU Debate since 2011. In this position, she also serves as coordinator of the Annual Barbara Jordan Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Batiste-Roberts is a former president of the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW). She received the Educator of the year award in 2014 at NABSW’s 46th National Conference April 17th in Indianapolis, IN for her decades of professional service to NABSW, her students and her clients. Immediate past NABSW National President, Joe Benton said the Executive Committee of the organization enthusiastically selected Dr. Batiste-Roberts because of her commitment to advancing student development through mentorship, scholarship and tireless service. He called her “a model of the best in social work education,” and added that she is a most worthy social work scholar and community leader.

Dr. Batiste-Roberts does workshops and is invited to speak all over the country and abroad. She feels that parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals, should teach discipline by example, consistency, encouragement and reward; that adults should look at the positive things youth are doing and give them positive recognition at home and at school. Her vision for all youth is that they will be empowered to face this nation and the world with confidence and determination.

Dr. Rowena Grice Wilson, a native of Washington, D.C., holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from West Virginia State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in Social Work from Howard University School of Social Work. Currently, Dr. Wilson serves as Special Assistant to the Provost and Chair of the Institutional Review Board at Norfolk State University. Dr. Wilson joined the faculty of NSU in 1986, and served in a variety of roles including Professor, Director of the PhD Program, and Associate Dean in the School of Social Work; Director and Dean of the Graduate School (2004 to 2009); and Dean of the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work (2012 to 2019). Since joining the NSU faculty, Dr. Wilson has received recognition for her outstanding scholarship, grantsmanship and leadership. She was honored by the University as an “Eminent Scholar”; received an Outstanding Community Service Award from the General Assembly of Virginia; and was recognized by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) for her contributions as an outstanding Virginia faculty member. Dr. Wilson has specialized training and social work practice experience in public health, services to children and adolescents, and developmental disabilities. 

Dr. Wilson has conducted research in the areas of adolescent pregnancy, special needs adoption and welfare reform. Dr. Wilson has participated in public health initiatives in Virginia through partnerships such as the statewide Public Health Training Center, a collaboration of Virginia educational institutions.  She has also actively participated in regional and national addiction initiatives through SAMSHA, CSWE, and NASW.

Dr. Wilson has served on national boards and committees including the CSWE Commission on Administrative and Legislative Policy, the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work and Research, the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research, and the National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD). She is a past president of the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), co-editor of a special issue on doctoral education, and contributor to the development of GADE Guidelines for Doctoral Education. Dr. Wilson has served on several editorial boards including the Journal of Social Work Education, Research on Social Work Practice (charter member), and the Journal of Public Child Welfare (co-editor).  She is a member of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW); and the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). Dr. Wilson has also held memberships in a variety of professional organizations devoted to graduate education including Virginia Council of Graduate Schools (2004-2009); Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (2004-2009); Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools (2004-2009) and the Council of Graduate Schools (2004-2009).