Linda Lausell Bryant Joins NYU Silver Faculty

In January the NYU Silver School of Social Work welcomed Linda Lausell Bryant, PhD ’12, to its faculty. Lausell Bryant comes to NYU Silver from Inwood House—a New York City-based nonprofit organization serving the needs of pregnant and parenting teens—where she was executive director from 2005-2014.

Lausell Bryant, an experienced clinician with over 30 years in the field, will tackle multiple roles at the Silver School. She will teach in the undergraduate curriculum, direct the undergraduate field learning program, and—beginning in the fall—assume the role of the Katherine and Howard Aibel Visiting Professor and Executive-in-Residence.

Lausell Bryant has amassed a breadth of experience in many arenas of social work throughout her career, each of which has contributed to her overarching dedication to the field. “I am deeply committed to the social work profession and to the children, youth, adults, families, and communities that are touched every day by social work practitioners,” she shared.

As a an educator, Lausell Bryant will offer students the valuable perspective of a career social worker with experience at multiple levels throughout the field. “In my 30 plus-year career, I have worked as an agency social worker, a supervisor, a program director, and an agency executive director,” she shared. “Each level provides wonderful opportunities to assist people in building upon their strengths.”

Lausell Bryant’s areas of expertise include child welfare, teen pregnancy prevention, adolescent development, conflict resolution and mediation, and nonprofit management make her a strong advocate for students. “As a clinical assistant professor, I will have the opportunity to help shape the next generation of professional social workers and by extension, I can help shape the field,” she said. “Through field learning, I can make sure that students get real experience in the field they’ll be entering and they can learn from experienced professionals.” And this generative spirit will extend to her work as executive-in-residence, where Lausell Bryant is excited for the opportunity to “help to cultivate new leaders in the field.”

Reflecting on her own experience as a student at NYU Silver, Lausell Bryant shared, “When I entered the doctoral program, it had a clinical focus. When I completed, the focus had shifted more towards research. I feel like I got the best of both worlds.”

She plans to utilize this comprehensive approach in her new position at NYU Silver. “I want to help to build a stronger bridge between theory and practice, classroom and field learning and direct practice and leadership. All of these are dimensions of social work, and I am striving for integration of these.”

For Lausell Bryant, the journey from student to professor has been an exciting one, and her return to NYU Silver is akin to coming full circle: “It is truly a privilege to come back as a member of the faculty and contribute to the wonderful learning environment of the Silver School of Social Work.”