Providence, RI -- Dr. Marian Mattison, associate professor of social work at Providence College, recently was named the recipient of the College's 2005-06 Joseph R. Accinno Faculty Teaching Award.

Mattison is the fourth recipient of the faculty teaching award, which was established in 2002 as part of the College's Strategic Plan. The award recognizes a tenured faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching, a passion and enthusiasm for learning, and a genuine concern for students' academic and personal growth. The award is supported by John J. Accinno, C.P.A. '46, who endowed it in honor of his late brother, Joseph. 

Dr. Joan R. Branham, chair of the Teaching Award Selection Committee (TASC), noted that as part of the award's nomination process, comments on faculty members and their teaching are solicited from faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

Recipients receive formal recognition at Academic Convocation in September, a cash stipend, and have their names inscribed on the award plaque in Phillips Memorial Library.

Mattison, who holds a doctor of social welfare degree from Columbia University and a master's of social work from the State University of New York at Buffalo, joined the College's faculty in July 1995 as an assistant professor of social work after serving as a special lecturer since July 1994. She was promoted to associate professor in September 2003.

Her prior academic positions include serving as an adjunct professor in the social work departments of Marywood University, the State University of New York at Brockport, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Prior to academia, Mattison served in several social work-related capacities.

Mattison's scholarly interests include ethical decision-making in social work practice and  professional values and ethics, both of which she has explored in published articles and book chapters. Mattison's professional and service activities include offering workshops on ethical decision-making and the ethical obligations of social work practitioners, workshops on effective parenting practices for adoptive families, and presentations at professional conferences.

"While this semester's students attributed 'the excitement in class' to Dr. Mattison's 'animated, passionate, and enthusiastic' teaching style, an alum wrote in about the transformative effect Dr. Mattison's teaching [has] had on her life beyond graduation," Branham noted.

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Editor's Note: View Dr. Mattison's Faculty Profile