This fall we have the opportunity to host a visiting scholar and faculty member, Dr. Adrian Van Breda. We are looking forward to his collaborations and teaching throughout the fall! Read more about him below and what led him to social work.
Dr. Van Breda is a Professor of Social Work at The University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He obtained a BSW and MA in Clinical Social Work at the University of Cape Town, and his PhD in Social Work from the University of Johannesburg in 2004. He also has Bachelor and Honors degrees in Systematic Theology from the University of South Africa. His primary research focus is resilience - understanding the processes that enable individuals, families and organizations to recover from adversity. His current research focuses primarily on the resilience processes that enable young people who grew up in foster care to transition more effectively out of care towards adulthood.
Why Social Work?
Dr. Van Breda came to social work almost by accident. At school, he studied piano, trumpet, pipe organ and opera and planned to become a church musician. But he switched briefly to psychology and then to social work, because he had a deep desire to make the world a better place. He fell in love with social work's commitment to social justice, human dignity and inclusivity, and these principles remain core to his work as social work educator, researcher, priest in the Episcopal church and as a human being.
