Fellows

In 2009, Ruth G. McRoy became the inaugural holder of the Donahue and DiFelice Endowed Professorship at Boston College (BC) Graduate School of Social Work. She earned her undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology is from the University of Kansas and her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.

Prior to joining the BC faculty, McRoy was at the University of Texas at Austin where she was the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor, associate dean for research and director of the Diversity Institute. Her areas of research expertise are reflected in her many published works including:

• Social Work Practice with Black Families (with Edith Freeman and Sadye Logan)
• Transracial and Inracial Adoptees: The Adolescent Years (with L. Zurcher)
• Special Needs Adoptions: Practice Issues, Openness in Adoption: Family Connections (with H. Grotevant)
• Intersecting Child Welfare, Substance Abuse and Family Violence: Culturally Competent Approaches (with R. Fong, and C. Ortiz-Hendricks)

Her recent honors include:

• Membership in the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teaching Professors
• The 2004 Flynn Prize for Social Work Research from the University of Southern California
• The 2005 George Silcott Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Administrators in Child Welfare
• The 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work and Research
• The 2006-2007 University of Texas at Austin Graduate School’s Outstanding Alumna Award.

She is currently board president of the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), board member of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston, and is a senior research fellow and a member of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute Board.