Professor Deborah J. Monahan will lead the research efforts of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics effective July 1. In the role as interim associate dean of research, Monahan will direct faculty research, scholarship and entrepreneurship efforts.
The central focus of the College Research Center is to advance scholarly productivity of faculty by identifying funding sources to support grant activities aimed at enhancing human potential, assisting faculty and students in the development and submission of external grant and award applications, and providing seed grant support to faculty to conduct early studies that may eventually develop into grant proposals to external funding agencies. The research center also provides opportunities for scholarly discussion on important research topics through a seminar series.
Monahan, a professor in the School of Social Work at Syracuse University since 1990, is also a faculty affiliate of the All-University Gerontology Center. She has an extensive portfolio of funded research awards and leadership, serving as a research investigator on projects related to the efficacy of support groups, community alternatives to long term care, family caregiving, kinship caregiving and adolescent pregnancy prevention. Funding agencies for her research have included the Administration on Aging, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Hartford Foundation, AARP-Andrus Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Pregnancy. In 2011, she co-edited the book “Education and Support Programs for Caregivers: Research, Practice, Policy” (Springer). Her publications appear in journals such as the Gerontologist, Families in Society, Social Work, Nursing Economics, Journal of Gerontology, Psychology and Aging, Journal of Medical Education, and the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
A fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, Monahan has been a member of its publications committee and secretary of the section on social research, policy and practice. A licensed master of social work, Monahan has also been a member of the board of directors of the American Society on Aging and served on its research committee for 10 years. She received a Ph.D. in education from the University of Arizona, an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and a B.A. in sociology from Temple University.
