Pioneering Contributions
Kathleen Pottick, PhD, MSW, MA, started her social work career as a group worker and caseworker, before beginning her long career as an educator, researcher, and higher education administrator. Early in her social work career, Dr. Pottick worked in agencies and programs in community mental health and services to the aging. Pottick began her academic career in 1982 as an assistant professor at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Within Rutgers, Pottick rose through the ranks to ultimately being named a full professor and acting dean. Her teaching, research and publications over the years led to her being recognized not only within Rutgers University and the State of New Jersey but also nationally and internationally.
Pottick is a highly prolific social work researcher and scholar, as well as an award- winning classroom instructor and faculty mentor. Her articles have appeared in numerous social work, psychiatric, psychology, and mental health journals. The bulk of her research has focused on better understanding the barriers to the provision of effective mental health services to children and adolescents.
Pottick has frequently stated that her goal is to bring the values and practicality of her background as a social worker to her research on issues in the health care industry that may be impeding the delivery of effective health and mental health services to children and adolescents. She has been a leader in bringing together colleagues from various mental health disciplines to address research questions about complex social problems that provide more complete answers than studies which are conducted under one methodology or philosophy.
Career Highlights
In addition to her faculty role at the Rutgers School of Social Work, Pottick served as a Core Faculty Member of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. In addition, she had a joint appointment with the Rutgers Center on Alcohol Studies, as well as in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Within the School of Social Work, Pottick served as associate dean for Faculty Development and, for two years, served as acting dean.
Pottick has been a visiting scholar or research consultant at many universities and schools of social work, including the University of Michigan School of Social Work, the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, the University of South Florida College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, the University at Albany School of Social Welfare, the University of California-San Francisco, the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work, and at the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Pottick has frequently been a presenter at national and regional conferences and her publications have appeared in numerous professional journals.
Biographic Information
Pottick was born in 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in Massapequa, Long Island, New York. She attended Bennington College, graduating in 1972. Subsequently, she enrolled in the University of Michigan, and earned her MSW in group work in 1974, her MA in Psychology in 1976, and her PhD in social work and social psychology in 1982. In 1982, Pottick joined the faculty at the Rutgers University School of Social Work as a tenure- track assistant professor, and retired as a full professor, after 43 years, in 2024. Over the course of her career she was a member of NASW, CSWE and several other professional associations, including as a charter member of the Socieity for Social Work and Research (SSWR).
Between 1974 and 1979, Pottick was a social work practitioner in community mental health and aging services in Michigan and Vermont.
Significant Recognition And Rewards
Among Pottick’s many recognitions and awards: in 2019 she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare; the Professor of the Year Award from the Rutgers School of Social Work; Faculty Mentor Award from the American Psychiatric Association; and the Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award from the Rutgers University Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research Scholars’ Program.
Significant Publications
In addition to writing numerous articles in refereed journals, Pottick published the following:
- Yasui, M., & Pottick, K.J. (expected publication date, 2025). Measures for Mental Health Practice with Diverse Racial and Ethnic Populations: From Perceptions of Distress to Treatment Experiences. New York: Oxford University Press, 1,000 pages expected.
- Based on award winning research article, "Conceptualizing Culturally Infused Engagement and Its Measurement for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Children and Families". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 20(17), 250-332. DOI: 10:1007/s10567-017-0229-2. Yasui, M., Pottick, K.J. and Chen, Y. (2017).
- Lerman, P., & Pottick, K.J. (re-publication date, 2024). The Parents' Perspective: Delinquency, Aggression, and Mental Health. New York: Routledge Publishers, 296 pages.
- Lerman, P., & Pottick, K.J. (1995). The Parents' Perspective: Delinquency, Aggression, and Mental Health. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 296 pages.