Keith A. Alford

“Current times force our society to engage in deep individual and collective introspection. Social workers must respond and reinvigorate our core values in the process. Practice wisdom within the profession is fortified by research, and research remains vital as we spread empirical understanding and foster diverse and expansive educational opportunities.”

• PhD, The Ohio State University
• MSW, The Ohio State University
  
• BA, History/Sociology, Coker University

Culturally specific service delivery for special populations; the exploration of helping approaches in family mental health; rites of passage programming for adolescent African American males; kinship care and child welfare interventions

Since being named dean of the University at Buffalo School of Social Work in August 2021, Keith A. Alford has led the school through a period of continued growth and stability.

Appreciating and elevating the lived experiences of the various populations we serve are central to the school’s mission and values, and under Alford’s leadership, the school has further embedded this ethos across every pillar of its five-year strategic plan. In addition, Alford is steering the integration of racial trauma into the school’s established trauma-informed and human rights framework. In 2024, he was honored with an Inclusion Diversity Equity Awareness award from Buffalo Business First for his work to champion a culture of belonging in the school and community.

Previously, Alford served in multiple roles at Syracuse University, including as its first chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO), a member of the chancellor’s executive team, professor of social work, director of the School of Social Work, MSW director and BSSW director. He was also named faculty member of the year on multiple occasions. In his role as CDIO, he provided executive leadership for a range of programs and policies to advance the institution’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

A former child protective services worker, outpatient family therapist and therapeutic foster care supervisor, Alford has devoted his professional life to serving and researching the needs of children and families. His areas of specialization include child welfare, mental health service delivery to children and families, culturally specific interventions, contemporary rites of passage programming and loss/grief reactions among African American families. In 2014, Social Work Degree Guide named him one of the 30 most influential social workers in the nation. And in 2021, Alford was recognized as a trailblazer by Children’s Home and Aid, a child and family service agency, for his grassroots work within the profession.

Alford’s research has appeared in numerous social work journals, and he has authored several book chapters and contributed columns on issues associated with diversity and human services. His work has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, New York State Office of Mental Health, U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and the Gifford Foundation. Notably, he was part of a national Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence to enhance diversity in the intelligence field and was a co-investigator on a project funded by the National Science Foundation to support the training of diverse undergraduates in conducting trauma research with veterans.

Alford has served as an editorial board member for the Journal of Urban Social Work, the Journal of Brief Therapy and the Journal of Family Social Work. In addition, he is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Academy of Certified Social Workers, Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work, the Society for Social Work and Research, and the Child Welfare League of America.

Currently, in addition to serving on the UB leadership team, Alford is a board member for Youth Research Inc., whose mission is to conduct research and develop program and policy recommendations that support the work of New York’s Office of Children and Family Services and local agencies that serve youth and families.

In the community and region, Alford has served on boards for several organizations, including InterFaith Works of Central New York, AccessCNY and the Onondaga County Public Library. He has also volunteered with the Dunbar Center and Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring program.

Alford earned a PhD and Master of Social Work from the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in history and sociology from Coker University.