David Córdova
David Córdova is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Born in Stockton, California, to two teen parents, he is a third generation Mexican American immigrant. David is one generation removed from the fields, as both of his parents worked in the fields to help …
Odessa Gonzalez Benson
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Odessa Gonzalez Benson is an Assistant Professor at the UM School of Social Work. She was born in the Philippines and out-migrated as a child with her family at the age of 10, and later returned for college (University of the Philippines), before going on to work in Guam, Korea, …
Jaclynn Hawkins
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Jaclynn Hawkins is an Assistant Professor in the Achool of Social Work. Growing up in a multicultural family (African American and Mexican) that relied on the California welfare system, she experienced firsthand the difficulty that underserved people of color face when seeking meaningful and accessible health care. She also witnessed …
Fernanda Lima Cross
Fernanda Lima Cross is an Assistant Professor in Social Work. Her program of research utilizes a strength-based approach to examining family and cultural factors that promote Latinx adolescents’ and families’ healthy development and mitigate the risk for maladaptive psychological and educational outcomes. She is particularly interested in examining the effect …
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez
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Lorraine M. Gutiérrez, Associate Dean for Educational Programs, has been on the faculty at the UM SSW since 1995. She was born and grew up in Los Angeles, CA and still considers it home. On her Gutiérrez side she is a 3rd generation Califorño, with roots going back to the …
Robert M. Ortega
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Robert M. Ortega is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His parents grew up in the southwest US, primarily Pueblo, Colorado. His father was born in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, and his mother’s family immigrated from Seville, Spain although his mother was …
Rogério Meireles Pinto
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Rogério Meireles Pinto is Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Social Work. He is a Brazilian-born psychiatric social work researcher with more than a decade of clinical and community practice, and expertise in Community Based Participatory Research and mixed-method research. He was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, …
Rosalva Osorio
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Rosalva Osorio has been a Field Faculty in the Office of Field Education since December 2019. A first generation Mexican-American. Parents entered the USA undocumented and with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 were granted amnesty. They were farm laborers and the family lived in poverty. School was …
Erin Peña Zimmer
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Erin Zimmer (maiden name Peña) is the Director of Student Services in the School of Social Work. She grew up in Adrian, Michigan, a small rural community with a large Mexican population. Erin’s father is Mexican American and her mother is of German descent. They taught her from an early …
Osvaldo Rivera
Osvaldo “Ozzie” Rivera was born in Puerto Rico and lived in southwest Detroit most of his life. For close to five decades, he has been active in community advocacy and human services. He served as mental health director for ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), as the …