Day-Garrett Award Winners

Day-Garrett Award Winners

BY MEGAN RUBINER ZINN

NINA ROVINELLI HELLER

CATHERINE CLANCY

THE DAY-GARRETT AWARD, established in 1978, is presented annually to one or more individuals who have been outstanding contributors to professional social work and who have been significant members of the Smith College School for Social Work educational community. The award is to be given to those who, in the judgment of the Committee, have personified in their lives and service to the community the high purpose of professional service for which the School is renowned.

At the August commencement ceremony, SSW presented Day-Garrett Medals to Nina Rovinelli Heller and Catherine Clancy for their contributions to the School and the field of social work.

Nina Rovinelli Heller, Ph.D. ’90, calls herself an “accidental academic” because she didn’t plan a career in higher education. After many years as a clinician at the Brattleboro Retreat in Vermont, she pursued a doctorate at SSW in order to better understand her clients. Although she continued her clinical work after earning her degree, Heller had discovered at Smith that she loved teaching, and, for many summers, she returned to the School as an adjunct professor.

In 1994, the University of Connecticut (UConn) recruited Heller to its social work faculty to teach courses in casework, social work practice and theory and mental health. She also developed an expertise in suicide prevention, serving on the Connecticut Suicide Advisory and as lead author on a state initiative on suicide.

In the course of her career, Heller has proven to be a talented leader as well as educator. Her colleagues call her a “powerhouse of a professional” and admire her ability to inspire and empower those around her. Heller now holds positions as dean of the UConn School of Social Work, co-director of the doctoral program and the Zachs Chair of Social Work. Catherine Clancy, Ph.D., LCSW, has contributed to every aspect of social work—as a clinician, supervisor, educator, administrator and regulator. Her colleagues speak of her warmth and humor, calling her a treasured leader. Yet, as colleague Miguel Ortega observed, in every role, she is first and foremost a teacher.

As training director at Houston’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Clancy served as field instructor for eight social work schools, including Smith College, preparing generations of social workers. Clancy began teaching at Smith when she jumped in on short notice to lead a six-hour annual conference ethics course and has been part of the adjunct faculty since 1999. Clancy also significantly influenced the field of social work, co-writing the state’s rules for social work regulation as chair of Texas’ first Board of Social Worker Examiners and helping draft the first model social work law with the Association of Social Work Boards Examination Committee. SSW Professor Emerita Susan Donner, Ph.D., spoke for many when she said she’s “proud to be part of a profession that has Clancy in it.”