Class Notes
1970s
Muffin Lord, MSW ’76, retired from Rutgers University as an administrative director of the honors and scholarship program.
1990s
Mary P. Galbraith, MSW ’91, retired from San Diego State University as lecturer emerita in 2020.
Donna M. Leigh, MSW '92, is a social work executive at the VA Western New York Healthcare System, where she has worked for the past 20 years.
Jennifer MacKenzie Carlson, MSW ’94, was selected to be a member of the University at Buffalo Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Donna Marie Abram-Cioppa, MSW ’96, works at Sanctuary Counseling of WNY and specializes in EMDR, EFT, DBT and other trauma specialized care. Abram-Cioppa also provides holistic healing through reiki and healing touch.
Elizabeth R. Wright, JD/MSW ’97, is the associate vice president for academic relations at Daemen University in Buffalo, N.Y.
Beth A. Arnold, MSW ’99, retired as a school special education teacher and school social worker. Arnold is now a member of the New York State United School Teachers Retirement Council 46, whose mission includes advocating for community schools and fair and competitive wages for school social workers.
Marcy Abramsky, MSW ’99, launched InspireOn Magazine and was interviewed in Women’s Health this year. Abramsky has been working in private practice for more than five years and dedicates her time as a UB School of Social Work alumni mentor and parent connection group facilitator for schools.
2000s
Regina M. Gonzalez, MSW ’02, is a K-12 English as a new language teacher with Erie 1 BOCES in Buffalo, N.Y., where she supports refugee and immigrant students with special needs.
Tamekia Slaughter-Smith, MSW ’02, was promoted to integrated prevention chief at the U.S. Department of Defense, focusing on a new program to prevent suicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual harassment.
Jodi McKay, MSW ’03, works as a crisis services program manager at the Niagara County Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Lockport, N.Y.
Jennifer Stracick, MSW ’03, graduated with a DSW from Tulane University.
Nancy Deborah Chu-Flowers, MSW ’04, works for the Erie County Probation Department.
Ruth Jean Wilkins, MSW ’05, is the founder and executive director of THRIVE Educational Services in Hampton, Ga.
Simone Ragland, MSW ’07, is the founder and CEO of Families Aimed Toward Excellence (FATE). Last year, she launched the Bits and Bytes STEM project powered by FATE, exposing nearly 550 students from preschool through high school to the fundamentals of building and coding robots and the engineering design process.
Danyell Sugg, MSW ’07, a certified school social worker at Buffalo Public Schools, joined the board of directors of New View Alliance, the parent company of two affiliated agencies: Gateway-Longview and New Directions Youth and Family Services.
2010s
Jennifer A. Loughran, MSW '10, is the associate director of identity-based alumni engagement at the University at Buffalo, Division of University Advancement.
Karen Williams, MSW ’13, owns a private practice named Karen Williams, LCSWR, CASAC, and offers virtual sessions specializing in EMDR and burnout with therapists and health care professionals.
Kimberly Brisky, MSW ’16, owns SonnyDaze Ranch Mental Health and Wellness Equine Programs in East Concord, N.Y.
Melissa Ann Curtis, MSW ’18, works as a medical social worker at Niagara Hospice.
Kristy M. Miller, MSW ’18, is a social worker at the Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Md.
Abbie Lee Burd, MSW ’19, is a licensed master social worker 2 at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
Susan C. Bhuiyan, MSW ’19, is a psychiatric crisis social worker 3 at Ellis Hospital’s emergency room in Schenectady, N.Y.
Amanda Mohler, MSW ’19, is a school social worker at Orchard Park Central School District and an adjunct professor at Buffalo State University.
Madison Thie, MSW ’19, works with children, adolescents and adults in private practice and part time at a residential treatment facility. She expects to graduate from the UB School of Social Work with a DSW in May 2026.
2020s
Chelsea Gonzalez, JD '20, MSW '19, is a law and policy analyst at Advocates for Youth, and serves on the board of directors for SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW and the New York Abortion Access Fund.
Michelle L. Melton, MSW ’21, is working as a licensed clinical social worker at Kaiser Permanente in California. She specializes in TF-CBT and DBT and is currently training in CPT.
Alison Beth Sterling, MSW ’21, is clinical director at Ritual Recovery and plans to begin working toward a DSW in 2025.
Tristen Turkow, MSW ’22, works as a dual diagnosis behavioral health therapist at Family Counseling Services of Cortland County in New York.
Aliza Benson, MSW ’24, is working as a community mental health provider for K-12 students in the Pine Bush School District. Benson also provides supervision at a private practice and working towards obtaining an LCSW.
Eric James Shiel, MSW ’24, works as a mental health clinician and a crisis clinician for Behavioral Health Services North in Queensbury, N.Y.