Uma Segal
Founders Professor
umasegal@umsl.edu
Office: SSB 476
Phone: 314-516-6379 Email: umasegal@umsl.edu
Dr. Uma A. Segal teaches courses on social work organizations and on human behavior in the School of Social Work and has taught courses on migration in the Honors College since 1999. Professor Segal has developed a global reputation for her research, teaching, practice, and service on immigrant and refugee integration. She is author of several journal articles, book chapters, and internationally acclaimed books on migration, and she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies.
Uma’s cross-national research has taken her to such diverse nations as Japan, Greece, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Russia, among others, and she has shared her expertise through conferences, initiatives, and seminars in many additional countries across all continents. She is invited as Keynote Speaker at several international conferences, recently in Portugal, Scotland, Tunisia, the UK, and for the World Health Organization in Sicily, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
A Fulbright Specialist and Scholar, Dr. Segal consulted with Portugal’s High Commission for Migration on its refugee resettlement program and designed a new school of social work in India with rural and global foci. She has taught courses on International Human Resource Management in India, Portugal, and Vietnam, is external collaborator for the Universidade do Fernando do Pessoa, Portugal and visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba’s Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Professor Segal received her PhD from George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, her MSSW from University of Texas at Arlington, and BA from Barnard College of Columbia University.
Awards:
Founders’ Professorship, University of Missouri (2022 – 2025)
Distinguished Alumni Award, Brown School, Washington University (2022)
Faculty Innovator of the Year, University of Missouri – St. Louis (2022)
Curators’ Professorship, University of Missouri – St. Louis (2020 – 2025)
University of Missouri System President’s Award for Cross Cultural Engagement (2020)
Promotion of International Education Award, Council on Social Work Education (2013)
Margaret Sherraden
sherraden@umsl.edu
Beverly Sporleder
sporleder@umsl.edu
Patricia Rosenthal
Associate Dean; Clinical Professor; Field Education Director
rosenthalp@umsystem.edu
Patti Rosenthal is a Clinical Professor and the Associate Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Patti coordinates the field education program for MSW students and teaches field seminars and practice courses. She also leads the Social Work Field Education Collaboration project in conjunction with the Saint Louis University School of Social Work, the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, and Fontbonne University.
Patti is currently engaged in exciting work with two community agencies. She serves on the Impact Leadership Team for Kids in the Middle and sits on the board of directors for Saint Louis Counseling. Kids in the Middle serves children and their families who are experience separation, divorce, or remarriage. Saint Louis Counseling is a mental health organization that provides office-based therapy, psychiatric services, EAP services, a college success program, and embeds mental health therapists in schools in our region.
Courses Taught:
SOCWRK 4300: Social Work Practice with Communities
Education:
MSW, Washington University (1982)
BA, Gannon University (1980)
Presentations and Interviews:
December 2019 and 2020
Guest lecturer on child and elder abuse reporting St. Louis, MO
College of Optometry--UMSL
March 15, 2019
“A Conversation with the Field Directors” St. Louis, MO
Field Instructor Appreciation Day
Co-presenters with Jenni Harpring, Beth Barrett, and Laura Beaver
March 6, 2019
Conference Presentation. “Challenges and Strategies for Social Workers Training in Integrated Behavioral Health Settings: Observations from the Field.” Tampa, FL
Co-presenter with Riisa Easley, Sharon Johnson, and Sha Lai Williams-Woodson.
August 16, 2018
“Managing Interns and Practicum Students to Maximize Time, Talent and Impact” St. Louis, MO
Co-presenter with Dr. Terry Jones
Shirley Portfield, Ph.D.
Professor
porterfields@umsystem.edu
Shirley L. Porterfield is a Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She previously held positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, the Rural Policy Research Institute, and Washington University in St. Louis. She is a research affiliate in Washington University’s Center for Social Development and a member of the program committee for the Signature Health Foundation. Dr. Porterfield teaches graduate-level courses in Program Evaluation and Health Care Policy.
Dr. Porterfield, who received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focuses her research on health policy, and work, family, and retirement issues associated with disability in children and working-age adults, with particular emphasis on issues facing lower-income families. Her articles on these and other topics can be found in journals such as Pediatrics, the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Children and Youth Services Review, and Health Affairs. Dr. Porterfield has received research funding from several sources, most recently the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Courses Taught:
Research Methods
Program Evaluation
Health Policy
Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1988
MS, University of Arizona, 1984
BS, Oregon State University, 1982
Recent Publications:
DeRigne, L. and S.L. Porterfield. 2015. Employment change among married parents of children with special health care needs. Journal of Family Issues (accepted 7/2014), online first, doi:10.1177/0192513X15572368.
Research Interests:
Children with Special Health Care Needs
Our BSW and MSW programs are both fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
