Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.–A Mississippi State University social work professor is the 2019 Social Worker of the Year for Mississippi’s chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. 

Adele Crudden received the award at the association’s recent annual conference for exemplifying “the best of the profession’s value and achievements.” 

“I was very surprised when I learned I had won and, of course, delighted,” Crudden said, “but I share this award with my MSU social work colleagues and the social work students, who inspire and support me.”

Crudden said MSU’s social work program produces “amazing students who are very successful in graduate school and social work practice.”  She has served as interim head of the sociology department since last July and was director of the department’s social work program from 2000-2013. 

Crudden was nominated by former colleague Leigh Jensen-Crawford, who retired as director of MSU’s Student Counseling Services in 2016. Nominees for the Social Worker of the Year award must demonstrate advocacy for clients and social policy, social work practice, program development, administration or research. They also must exhibit outstanding leadership, contributions to a positive image for the social work profession and an ability to take risks to achieve outstanding results.

Janice Sandefur, executive director of Mississippi’s chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said Crudden’s application stood out due to her “outstanding leadership in service, education and research over the past year.”

“As a professional social worker, educator and advocate, Dr. Crudden was the clear choice to represent the profession as the Social Worker of the Year,” Sandefur said.  “Dr. Crudden has consistently been a community advocate for marginalized populations, including LGBTQ and those in poverty, and supports many social justice issues.”

Founded in 1955, NASW in Washington, D.C., is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with more than 120,000 members. NASW promotes, develops and protects the practice of social work and social workers and seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families and communities through its advocacy.  

Jensen-Crawford said she nominated Crudden because she “embodies social work through ethical research and practice, as well as advocacy, especially with the vision-impaired population and those who serve that population.”

“She has spent her career working to support the mission of the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision on the Mississippi State campus through advocacy, research and teaching,” Jensen-Crawford said.

“If she sees or experiences injustice, she addresses it. In a world that is ever-changing and often less compassionate, this can be a risk,” Jensen-Crawford added. 

Since joining the MSU faculty in 1994, Crudden has secured over $11 million in federally funded research through the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision.  She also is a former director of the Addie McBryde Rehabilitation Center for the Blind in Jackson. Crudden is a Mississippi licensed social worker and counselor and a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor.

She received the John H. McAulay Award in 2008 and the Louis Viceceli Award in 2012, both from the International Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Crudden earned her Master of Social Work at Louisiana State University, a Ph.D. and master’s degree from Mississippi State in counselor education and a bachelor’s in educational psychology, also from MSU.

She has published in professional journals, including the Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work; Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness; Journal of Technology in Human Services; Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation; and Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Crudden’s professional experience includes working with individuals who have developmental disabilities, chronic health conditions and physical disabilities. Her research interests include disability, gerontology, job retention among persons with disabilities, women’s issues and health care.

MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or Department of Sociology may be found at www.cas.msstate.edu or www.sociology.msstate.edu.     

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.