College of Social Work Hosts 14th Annual Rosenstein Lecture

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 10, 2016) — The University of Kentucky College of Social Work will celebrate the 14th annual Irma Sarett Rosenstein Distinguished Lecture on "Building Pathways to Success from Youth to Adulthood" at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

This year’s lecture will feature Leslie Boissiere, senior fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. She has focused throughout her career on reforming the public systems that serve vulnerable families, closing youth prisons, and creating economically inclusive and family-supportive communities.

Irma Sarett Rosenstein grew up in New York City and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s degree in social work. Rosenstein has always cared deeply about the welfare of children, the most vulnerable population. She was a social worker at the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital and also taught in the UK College of Social Work where she worked closely with the first dean of the college, Ernest Witte. She recognized early on in her career that early intervention was the key to both treatment and prevention for kids in need. Rosenstein brought an ethos of openness and of clarity to community problems. She did not shirk from addressing racism and bigotry. She took on the big issues of her day, and still now her passion for social justice is evident.

Rosenstein was the driving force behind the Kentucky Conference on Christians and Jews, now called the Kentucky Conference on Communities and Justice (KCCJ), an organization dedicated to building community and ending bigotry. She hosted one of social work’s most prominent leaders, Whitney Young, at a KCCJ dinner when no public places outside of UK were desegregated.

“We are thrilled to have Leslie from the Annie E. Casey Foundation speak to our faculty, staff and students to further advance our work in the state of Kentucky,” said Ann Vail, interim dean of UK College of Social Work.

Thanks to a generous gift from Rosenstein and her family in 2002, the College of Social Work has been providing research-based and practice-driven lectures by distinguished national speakers in child welfare.

To RSVP for the lecture, contact Leigh Oakley at leigh.oakley@uky.edu or 859-257-6654.

To register for continuing education units, contact Christina Gevedon at christina.gevedon@uky.edu.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Ann Blackford at ann.blackford@uky.edu or 859-323-6442.