American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare

Fred Wulczyn, PhD

Active | Inducted in 2014

Bio

Fred Wulczyn, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and the Director of the Center for State Child Welfare Data. The work of the Data Center is organized around the research evidence public and private child welfare agencies need to improve outcomes for children. A core asset of the Data Center is the Multistate Foster Care Data Archive. With the records of more than 4.5 million foster children and more than 3 decades of history, the Archive is the oldest continuously updated data source of its kind in the world. After helping to launch Chapin Hall as a University of Chicago doctoral student, Dr. Wulczyn spent a decade working for the New York State Department of Social Services. During his tenure there, he developed two programs designed to improve outcomes for children. The Child Assistance Program changed how the state provided financial support to single mothers. The Home Rebuilders Program led to the National IV-E Waiver Program used by more than 30 states to promote innovation. His work has been twice recognized by Harvard University’s Innovation in Government program with awards that acknowledge innovative solutions to complex public policy problems. Wulczyn received a Ph.D. from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, a Master of Social Work from Marywood University, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Sociology from Juniata College. He was elected to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare in 2014. He is also a winner of the Forsythe Award and the Flynn prize. Both awards recognize his contributions to science and public policy. Marywood University recognized Dr. Wulczyn with an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters in 2013. For his career, Dr. Wulczyn was included, in 2022, on a curated list of top scientists, a list that includes social workers along with scientists from all the other scientific disciplines.