Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Keith A. Alford Named Dean of University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work

Wednesday, May 26, 2021, By News Staff
Share
Diversity and InclusionFalk College of Sport and Human Dynamics

Keith A. Alford

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) Keith A. Alford, Ph.D., has announced that he will become dean of the University at Buffalo’s (UB) School of Social Work. Alford, who has been a member of the Syracuse University faculty for 25 years in the School of Social Work in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, will begin his new position on Aug. 15. He will serve as CDIO until his departure.

“Keith has spearheaded vital initiatives to advance diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility throughout our campus community,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “Keith is well known on our campus for his grace, compassion and commitment to serving our students. His long and distinguished career at Syracuse University will have a lasting impact on our community. He will be missed by all who’ve worked closely with him over the years.” Chancellor Syverud appointed Alford as CDIO in May 2019. Alford served as interim CDIO since July 2018 following the announcement of the newly established CIDO position.

In his new role at UB, Alford will be a member of the university’s senior leadership team, working with the president, provost, deans and other senior leaders to advance the university’s academic mission. As the chief academic and administrative officer of the School of Social Work, he will report to the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and will be charged with leading a new strategic planning cycle that incorporates diversity, inclusion and social justice efforts into the vision for the school.

“I am honored by the opportunity at UB, though I will certainly miss my Syracuse University family,” says Alford, who is guiding the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Planning Task Force in the creation of Syracuse University’s first strategic plan on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. “I am so proud of the work done by dozens of individuals who, in this process, brought diverse viewpoints, honesty and understanding to a process that will serve our students, faculty and staff for generations to come.”

Over the last several years, Alford has brought together faculty and staff members from each of the University’s schools and colleges who lead diversity and inclusion efforts in their respective units to form the Inclusive Leadership Assembly. Alford leads the Council on Diversity and Inclusion with the support of co-chairs Paula Possenti-Perez and Craig Tucker. He has also worked with students, faculty and staff partners across campus, including within the Office of Academic Affairs and its Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and Center for Faculty Leadership and Professional Development, to bring programming and workshops on diversity and inclusion and understanding bias to the campus community. He also worked to elevate the importance of accessibility with his support of the Disability Community Group.

Alford has often spoken of the importance of dialogue and community. “Dialogue is a vehicle for progress,” says Alford. He takes a room-for-all approach. “In dialogue, we open ourselves to the process of discovery and understanding the life experiences of others.”

During his tenure at Syracuse University, Alford served as professor and chair of the Falk College’s School of Social Work, and at separate times as its graduate and undergraduate program director. Alford’s areas of specialization include mental health service delivery to children and families, culturally specific programming for children in out-of-home care, contemporary rites of passage programming and loss/grief reactions among African American families. Through his teaching, he has been involved with a National Science Foundation grant supporting the training of diverse undergraduates in conducting trauma research with veterans. He served on the Faculty Senate Committee on Diversity, the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council and as an advisor to the Student of Color Advisory Committee.

Alford received a Ph.D. from the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio. He earned a master of social work also from OSU, and a bachelor of arts degree in history and sociology from Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By News Staff
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey
  • Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G
    Thursday, June 19, 2025, By Matt Michael
  • 2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship
    Tuesday, June 17, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Jorge Morales ’26 Named a 2025 Beinecke Scholar

Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…

Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G

Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…

2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship

For the first time in the 12-year history of the program, both nominees from the Whitman School of Management have been selected as recipients of the 2025 AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship, a prestigious honor awarded to top-performing undergraduate women…

Whitman’s Johan Wiklund Named a Top Scholar Globally for Business Research Publications

The Whitman School of Management’s Distinguished Professor Johan Wiklund was recently listed as one of the most prolific business and economic research scholars globally, according to “What We Know About the Science of Science in Business and Economics? Insights From…

Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore ’26 Receives Prestigious Udall Scholarship

Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore, a rising senior communication and rhetorical studies major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and political science major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences (with a…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.