Professor Kristie A. Thomas of the Simmons College School of Social Work was recently honored with the 2017 Provost’s Award for Student Centeredness in Graduate Teaching. The award is given to a professor who shows extraordinary enthusiasm for and dedication to teaching at the graduate level. Much of Dr. Thomas’s teaching and research focuses on intimate partner violence among marginalized populations.
Simmons College Professor and Jamaica Plain resident Kristie A. Thomas was recently honored with the 2017 Provost's Award for Student Centeredness in Graduate Teaching at Simmons College in Boston.
“I created the provost’s award to honor and celebrate the commitment to excellence shown by our graduate faculty each year,” said Simmons College Provost and Senior Vice President Katie Conboy. “Dr. Thomas brings a unique combination of energy and experience to the classroom. She is a gifted educator, researcher and practitioner, and we are fortunate to have her on our faculty. It is my pleasure to recognize her talents and work ethic.”
“It is an absolute honor to be the recipient of the Provost’s Award for Student Centeredness in Graduate Teaching,” said Thomas of Jamaica Plain. “I am forever indebted to the professors who inspired me with their wisdom, expertise and tireless quest for excellence. My goal is to offer the same quality of training to my own students.”
Thomas joined the Simmons faculty in 2011. Prior to that, she served as assistant director of the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence at the University of Pennsylvania and as a research consultant for the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women.
Thomas teaches at the master and doctoral level in the Simmons School of Social Work, mentors Ph.D. students in their dissertation work, and provides graduate students with research opportunities on her interdisciplinary, community-based research projects. Thomas received her Ph.D. and her M.S.W. at the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor’s degree at St. Joseph’s University. This year, she was tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
The provost’s award, which includes a $10,000 prize, was presented to Thomas at the Simmons College Faculty Recognition Celebration, held on May 18. Nominees are reviewed by the college’s provost’s office and nominations are submitted to the provost by the deans.