1964
- The School of Social Welfare (Social Welfare) was founded in 1964 and celebrates 60 years of impact this year. Through our research, teaching, and community engagement, on local, national and global levels, Social Welfare promotes social, economic, and environmental justice, human rights, and the improvement of human wellbeing.
1965
- Social welfare student Kathleen Earle Fox (BA '67, MSW '76, PhD '96) submitted the winning entry to UAlbany's mascot naming contest, making us the UAlbany Great Danes.
1966
- With support from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health, the School of Social Welfare established training units in two county public welfare offices.
1967
- The first graduates of the School of Social Welfare—25 students who earned a Master of Social Work (MSW)— crossed the commencement stage.
1971
- After protests in the 1960s, UAlbany's Community and Public Service Program was developed. Social Welfare faculty organized the structure of the program for the University, with the ideas of student service to the community and civic responsibility as central features. Today, students receive academic credit for participating in the program.
- Assistant Professor Edward Valachovic created a new statistical method. The Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap (VBPBB) helps to create more precise estimates when looking at regularly occurring changes within data collected across time – commonly called time series data.
- The Global Center for Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health was created at UAlbany to use AI and deep learning technology to identify social determinants of health and related risk and protective factors, better understand the biological mechanisms behind mental health disorders, identify differences across the life course and develop strategies to help fill critical mental health care gaps globally. Associate Professor Ricky Leung was selected as the Interim Co-Director.