Leora Shudofsky, herself a graduate of the Hunter College School of Social Work and a valued staff and faculty member since 2008, is committed to supporting veterans, their families, and their unique social service needs. She (re-)joined Hunter to work for PROVE: The Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans’ Education, first as a full-time field instructor (2008-2012); then Associate Director (2012-2016); and, since 2016, Co-Director alongside Founding Director Roger Sherwood. Now in its tenth year, PROVE is a groundbreaking program that brings Silberman students together with student veterans at ten CUNY campuses, to jointly ensure the educational success of CUNY’s enrolled veterans and the military cultural competence of Silberman students.
Leora is first author on a recent paper about this program’s extraordinary success, published in the Clinical Social Work Journal. Read the paper here.
In tandem with her work for PROVE, Leora has been a widely admired adjunct instructor since 2011. She taught Group Work for Non-Majors until 2013; and since 2013 has taught Social Work with Veterans, a course she developed with Professor Sherwood. In May 2017, Leora received the Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence – Cecile B. Insdorf Award for Excellence in Teaching for Part-Time Faculty, recognizing her outstanding teaching.
“Silberman (then the Hunter College School of Social Work) was a transformational experience for me as a student,” says Leora. “My experience laid the foundation for who I am as a social work practitioner. That I am able to work at this very institution is an incredible privilege. I admire the passion, advocacy, and dedication of the students, faculty, and staff here at Silberman; and I appreciate their open willingness to continue to stretch and grow.”