Largest-ever PhD class graduates from Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice

At the 2025 Commencement ceremony of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), eight students earned their Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare (PhD) degrees — the largest graduating cohort in the program’s history. As part of the ceremony on Saturday, May 17, each doctoral graduate was formally hooded by the chair of their dissertation committee.

The ceremony recognized the following students who earned their PhDs, listed with their dissertation titles:

Alicia M. Chatterjee

Clinical Dispossessions: Malaga Island and the Racial Histories of Clinical Social Work 1890-1925

Daniel Young Choi

Understanding the New Age of Helping Others: A Contemporary Perspective and Future Outlook

Fritz O. Graham

Recent Residence in Controlled Living Environments and HIV Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Women on Probation and Parole

Ari S. Gzesh

Let’s Care for Our Bodies, Let’s Care for Each Other: Transmasculine Strategies for Navigating Stigma, Health Communication, and Collective Care

Jessica Cho Kim

Perspectives Among Korean American Social Workers on Interpreting, Navigating, and Adapting Trauma-Informed Practice

Tiana Maria Marrese

Paid and Unpaid Labor Across Sectors, A Three Paper Dissertation

Melissa Beatriz Skolnick-Noguera

The Cultural Organizing Networks in Philadelphia

Codi Arielle Smith

Board Capacity, Power, and Performance of Community Foundations

About SP2’s Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare (PhD) 

The Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare (PhD) program transforms students into scholars well-equipped to identify and solve social problems – both close to home and around the world. Grounded in innovation and academic rigor, the SP2 PhD allows students to explore diverse perspectives and approaches to social work, social welfare research, social policy, social theory, and social change.