Bio

William Meezan, M.S.W., D.S.W. is Dean of the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University. Prior to his assuming his current role, he held endowed professorships at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. He began his faculty career at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Jane Addams College of Social Work, and in 1994-95 he was a senior Fulbright scholar in Lithuania. His manuscripts have appeared in Social Service Review, Children and Youth Services Review, Child Welfare, and many others, as well as in a number of anthologies. He has co-authored four books that report the results of his largest research studies: Family Preservation and Family Functioning (CWLA Press); Evaluating Family-Based Services (Aldine); Care and Commitment: Foster Parent Adoption Decisions (SUNY Press); and Adoptions without Agencies: A Study of Independent Adoptions (Child Welfare League of America). In addition, he has co-edited five other volumes, including Research Methods with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Populations (Haworth), Child Welfare: Current Dilemmas-Future Directions (F.E. Peacock) and two volumes of the journal Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping concerned with issues involved in "Doing Research on the Ground." In 2005 he was inducted into the Columbia University School of Social Work Hall of Fame.

James I. Martin, M.S.W., Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Director of the Ph.D. Program at the New York University School of Social Work. Prior to his academic career Dr. Martin practiced clinical social work in mental health settings for 13 years and provided clinical supervision, with particular expertise in practice with gay and lesbian individuals and couples. He is co-author of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths and Adults: Knowledge for Human Services Practice