Dr. Stephanie Berzin has been named dean of the College of Social Sciences, Policy and Practice at Simmons College in Boston.
The appointment comes as Simmons College announced it will become Simmons University, effective Sept. 1.
Berzin will work with faculty, students and the Simmons community to build the future of the College of Social Sciences, Policy and Practice, capitalizing on Simmons’ historically strong social work program, while integrating the other programs within the college to inform practice and policy and educate students to go in to their chosen field with a deep understanding of the importance of working across fields to realize social change.
Before joining Simmons, Berzin served as associate professor and assistant dean of the Doctoral Program at the Boston College School of Social Work, where she co-led a curriculum redesign as well as the development of the strategic vision for the Macro: Social Innovation & Leadership Program. She also served as co-director of the Center for Social Innovation, a Boston College initiative which works to build the evidence-base for social innovation and promote the capacity of existing agencies to respond on social issues; and has developed coursework around social innovation, social entrepreneurship, leadership and resource development.
Berzin graduated cum laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, earned her M.S.W. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkley. She is a resident of East Brunswick.