The Institute for Rural Social Work Research awarded a $3,000 scholarship to Western New Mexico University student Okwuchi Lilian Ezeala.
The inaugural Dr. Creasie Finney Hairston Scholarship was awarded to Ezeala for her outstanding work as a social work student. Ezeala was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She earned a bachelor degree in social work with honors at River State University of Science and Technology in 2009.
Dr. Finney Hairston is Dean and Professor at Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois. She is the Director of Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research.
Dr. Robert Rickle, Founder and Director of the Institute for Rural Social Work Research is a previous graduate student of Dr. Finney Hairston.
“As an MSW research student of Dr. Finney Hairston at the University of Tennessee Knoxville; I was set upon two paths that I have continued to follow to this day, that of conducting social work research and thinking about and practicing social work from a feminist perspective”, said Dr. Rickle.