At the end of this school year, the National Catholic School of Social Service will be celebrating the retirement of two of its favorite faculty members: Dr. Laura Daughtery and Dr. Michaela Zajicek-Farber.
Dr. Laura Daughtery, PhD, MSW, LICSW/LCSW-C (B.A. 1976, Morgan State University; MSW 1998 Howard University, Ph.D. 2005, The Catholic University of America) joined the NCSSS faculty in 2005 as a tenure-line Assistant Professor. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009. She has more than a decade of experience in child welfare and social services as a direct service practitioner working with families in recovery, adolescents in child welfare, seniors aging in place, and adults managing chronic disease. Dr. Daughtery’s research interests are in understanding the experience and meaning of child welfare within the context of families and public child welfare services; adolescents involved in the public child welfare system; health disparities including diabetes education and prevention; the family context of type two diabetes; the family context of substance abuse; African American families and gerontology. Dr. Daughtery served as the BSW Program Chair and was part of the faculty that taught in Mindanao, Philippines.
Dr. Zajicek-Farber, PhD, MSW, BCD, LCSW-C (B.A. 1977, Cleveland State University; MSW 1979, Ph.D. 1990, The Catholic University of America) joined the NCSSS faculty in 2003 as a tenure-line Assistant Professor. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and Ordinary Professor in 2021. She was recently granted Professor Emerita status. For the last 20 years, Dr. Farber has demonstrated consistent research productivity and her research has impacted several areas of social work practice, most notably with low-income families with infants and young children, with families of children suffering from neurodevelopmental disabilities, and with victims of torture and trauma. Dr. Zajicek-Farber has also contributed significantly to our Ph.D. program by serving as chair on dissertations and as a reader on numerous other dissertations. Her research expertise has also contributed to our curriculum at all levels. Since 2016, she has served as a member of the University Research Day Committee as an abstract reviewer, chairperson for assigned oral panels, and poster judge.
As we celebrate the academic accomplishments of Dr. Daughtery and Dr. Zajicek-Farber, we also reflect on the joy and wisdom they brought to the school every time they walked into Shahan Hall’s doors. We will miss them dearly.