Clinical professor Anne Jones is retiring after nearly 42 years of service to the social work profession, including 16 years as a faculty member at UNC’s School of Social Work.
Jones has spent much of her clinical, research and teaching career on couple and family systems work, with an emphasis on couple and family relationships, family formation, psycho-education and internet groups, and intervention research. In 2011, she completed a $2.5 million, five-year community intervention study aimed at strengthening couple relationships and parenting bonds among economically disadvantaged, unmarried, expectant couples in Durham.
Over the past four years, Jones has focused more of her attention on integrated health care and worked closely with colleague Lisa Zerden to lead the UNC-PrimeCare program. In 2014, Zerden, senior associate dean for MSW education, Jones and other School faculty were awarded a $1.4 million federal grant to create the program, which trains MSW students to work in primary care settings as behavioral healthcare specialists. The program received a $1.9 million federal award last year, enabling the initiative to continue to prepare social work students to work alongside doctors, nurses and other allied health care professionals to help treat patients holistically.
As an expert in group work, Jones also helped to co-found the North Carolina chapter of the International Association of Social Work with Groups. The association works to promote excellence in group work practice, education, field instruction, research and publication.
Jones’ commitment to the profession is evident in her teaching, research and practice, Zerden praised.
“Anne has always approached her work with a genuine spirit of engagement and connection,” Zerden said. “She has been a source of support, mentorship and encouragement. Her retirement is a loss for us as colleagues, but I have no doubt that she will continue to share her gifts in whatever adventures retirement brings.”
School faculty and staff will host a retirement party for Jones next month.