Deana F. Morrow, PhD, LICSW, ACSW

Dr. Morrow served as Director and Professor of the WVU School of Social Work from 2017 until her retirement in 2025. She also held the role of Eberly Family Professor for Outstanding Public Service. Under Dr. Morrow’s leadership, the School of Social Work developed a PhD program in social work and developed online options for the existing MSW and BSW degree programs. She also led the School of Social Work through the successful reaffirmation of accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education. Additionally, Dr. Morrow led a successful Eberly College initiative to secure promotion opportunities and a progressive career ladder for master’s degree faculty

Dr. Morrow’s research interests included older adults, social work education, social work licensure and regulation, leadership, and sexual minority populations. She authored more than 50 scholarly publications and made more than 150 scholarly presentations in regional, national, and international venues. She also led or co-led a variety of externally funded grants in areas such as gerontology education for adult protective services workers, behavioral health workforce development, mental health first aid training for college students, addiction and recovery workforce development, health and long-term care, and foster and adoptive family recruitment.

In national and state leadership, Dr. Morrow served as Chair of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Board of Accreditation, member of the CSWE Council on Leadership Development, Board member for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation, and Board member for the NASW-West Virginia. She also served as Chair of the North Carolina Social Work Licensure Board. Additionally, she served on numerous nonprofit community boards.

Dr. Morrow was recognized with the Samuel A. Hickman Champion Award through the West Virginia Chapter of NASW. She also received the Gale DiGiorgio Award in recognition of outstanding leadership from Winthrop University, the Outstanding Veteran Mentor Award from the Ronald E. McNair Program at UNC Charlotte, and the Teaching Excellence Award from Warren Wilson College.

In addition to her emeritus recognition with WVU, Dr. Morrow is also Chair and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Social Work at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina