Profile
Professor Cavanaugh has served as the Dean of the Silberman School of Social Work (SSSW) since 2015. During her tenure as Dean, the SSSW has experienced a significant increase in student enrollment and faculty recruitment. Dean Cavanaugh has also strengthened faculty research support, resulting in quadrupling external grant funding. To enhance student success, she instituted full-time academic advising, strengthened writing and technology supports, increased scholarship support, implemented a highly successful BSW program, as well as MSW/MPH and MSW/M.Div. dual-degree programs.
Dean Cavanaugh holds a joint PhD in Social Welfare and Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary research interests focus on partner violence and offender interventions. She has authored numerous journal articles, books, and book chapters and has worked nationally and internationally as a visiting scientist and teaching fellow in Germany, Turkey, England, and Norway. Prior to joining the faculty at Hunter College in 2010, she was on faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.