Heeren honored with School of Social Work award, scholarship

Congratulations to Tessa Heeren, a research assistant at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center in the Health Policy Research program. Heeren recently graduated from the School of Social Work in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, earning a Master of Social Work degree (M.S.W.). At the School of Social Work graduation ceremony, she received the Director’s Award, an honorary award that recognizes graduating students who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievement, creativity, leadership and service accomplishments. The Director of the School of Social Work selects the recipients from those nominated by the School’s faculty.

Heeren was also the recipient of the Mildred J. Snider scholarship, which was created in memory of a former School of Social Work faculty member who was active in advocacy and policy change. The award is given annually to a social work graduate student who demonstrates a strong potential for advancement of social policies related to community development and social service integration. The recipient will engage in policy studies that involve the systematic analysis of the mix of government and non-government policy and program development in social welfare at federal, state and local levels.

This summer, Heeren will travel to Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as a participant in the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research and Training (MHIRT) program. The MHIRT internship is a program funded by the National Institutes of Health and administered by The Center for International Rural and Environmental Health (CIREH) in the UI College of Public Health.