American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare

Renee Cunningham-Williams, PhD

Active | Inducted in 2021

Current Position

Mentoring Commitee

Bio

Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, PhD., MPE joined Arizona State University’s School of Social Work, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions in Fall 2022, where she holds two inaugural positions: Watts Endowed Professor of Social Work and Associate Director of Faculty Development.

She retired from Washington University after nearly 30 years on faculty, first in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine and later at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. There, she served as Associate Dean of Doctoral Education and as mPI/Director of a long-standing National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded predoctoral and postdoctoral training program, which has been in continuous operation for over 20 years.

An internationally recognized authority on comorbid gambling and substance use disorders, particularly among vulnerable populations, Dr. Cunningham-Williams’ recent work focuses on doctoral education quality, mentorship, and capacity development for diverse scholars. Her research has been supported by a diversified portfolio of funding from the National Institutes of Health, private foundations, and institutional sources.

A dedicated researcher, teacher, mentor, and administrator, Dr. Cunningham-Williams has been recognized locally and nationally for her contributions. She has provided leadership through service on local, national, governmental, and international committees, task forces, and boards.

A proud “forever first-gen” student, she credits her early education in the Head Start program and her upbringing in the Blumeyer Housing Projects in St. Louis as formative influences. Her formal training includes honors NIH-mentored programs at Howard University (BSW, NIH MARC Fellow), Washington University’s Brown School (MSW, PhD, NIMH Fellow), and Washington University School of Medicine (Master in Psychiatric Epidemiology, NIMH T32 Trainee). She was also selected as a CSWE Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Fellow but had to decline the award due to federal regulations prohibiting recipients from holding two concurrent federal fellowships. However, she deeply values the mission of the MFP and has remained committed to giving back by mentoring first generation and minoritized scholars throughout her career, ensuring that future generations of social work leaders benefit from the opportunities she once received.

Committed to lifelong learning, she spent her sabbatical as a full-time law student and was named a Dean’s Scholar upon admission to St. Louis University School of Law. During this time, she completed the first-year JD curriculum, was awarded a Center for Employment Law Research Summer Fellowship, and was named to the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.

Among her many career honors, Dr. Cunningham-Williams is an inducted fellow of both the Society for Social Work and Research and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. She is also the 2024 recipient of the Doctoral Educational Faculty Leadership Award from the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE).

For more information visit her profile at Arizona State University’s website.