GADE Announces New & Re-Elected Board Members
New members are to begin their term June 1, 2024
Monday, April 1, 2024
by: Dr. Jonathan J. Okstad

Section: Press Releases




April 1, 2024: The Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GADE) is pleased to announce three new members and the re-election of a current member to the Board of Directors. They will join the current board in supporting our mission to promote excellence and equity in social work doctoral education.

“We’re very excited to welcome our new board members, Drs. Krystal Hays (at-large), Poco Kernsmith (secretary), and Cristina Mogro-Wilson (at-large), and applaud the re-election of Dr. Anne Williford (treasurer). These scholars bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our work as an organization,” said GADE President Dr. Denise Burnette. "Each has held key leadership roles in their respective universities and professional communities, and they bring years of deep knowledge about social work doctoral education.” 

As the administrative body of GADE, the Board of Directors provides strategic leadership to its members and its constituencies. It comprises 10 doctoral program directors, who serve 3-year rotating terms and are elected by GADE membership.

New and re-elected board members begin their terms June 1, 2024. They include:  

  • Dr. Krystal Hays, Associate Professor & DSW Program Director, California Baptist University
  • Dr. Poco Kernsmith, Professor & PhD Program Director, University of Texas at Arlington

  • Dr. Cristina Mogro-Wilson, Professor & PhD Program Co-Director, University of Connecticut

  • Dr. Anne Williford, Associate Professor & PhD Program Director, Colorado State University

Dr. Burnette added, “On behalf of the board, I want to express our sincere gratitude to Drs. Louanne Bakk, Jerome Schiele, and Chi-Fang Wu, who will conclude their service on the board at the end of the current academic year. We wish them all the best in future endeavors, and we look forward to their continued support of GADE.” 

Finally, Dr. Burnette will conclude her term as GADE president at the end of the current academic year. She notes: 

"The opportunity to serve as President of GADE has truly been a highlight of my academic career. It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside so many astute, committed, and caring individuals.
I have been especially grateful to the support of President-Elect Dr. Mimi Chapman over the past year, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in my role as immediate past-president in the coming year." 

To learn more about the GADE Board of Directors, visit gadesocialwork.org/board-of-directors


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The Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) is an organization of social work doctoral program directors representing more than 100 member institutions. Founded in 1977, our mission is to promote excellence and equity in social work doctoral education through networking, capacity building, and stewardship of the profession. Toward that end, members share knowledge and resources that support innovation and excellence in doctoral education for developing and existing programs; promote the development of doctoral students in all their diversity and publicly recognize their achievements and contributions to the profession; and represent and promote the interests and concerns of social work and social welfare doctoral programs in the larger profession. Since 1992, GADE has strived to codify and unify these goals and principles in its Quality Guidelines for PhD Programs in Social Work. gadesocialwork.org