Amy Blank Wilson, PhD ’06

Amy Blank Wilson, PhD, MSW, LSW, is an associate professor and The Prudence F. and Peter J. Meehan Early Career Distinguished Scholar at the School of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the co-director of the Tiny Homes Village. Dr. Wilson grew up in Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, a small town about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, and worked as a social worker in the child welfare, mental health, and criminal legal systems in Philadelphia and the surrounding metropolitan area for over 10 years. After completing her MSW at Rutgers University, Dr. Wilson began the PhD program at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), earning her PhD in social welfare in 2006. Dr. Wilson then completed a NIMH postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University. Dr. Wilson also met and married her husband Matt while enrolled in her PhD program. They welcomed their first child, Zack, while she was completing her dissertation and their second child, Grace, while she was completing her post-doctoral training.

Dr. Wilson uses her practice experience and research expertise to explore new ways to address the complex, interlocking problems of poverty, homelessness, substance use, and criminal legal system involvement facing many people with mental illness. Her research and scholarship include over 20 funded grants, 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and 90 conference presentations. She is a national expert in the development and testing of interventions for people with mental illness involved with the criminal legal system. She is also the co-director of the Tiny Homes Village, a demonstration project focused on expanding the continuum of affordable housing options for people with mental illness. In addition to her research, Dr. Wilson enjoys mentoring doctoral students and junior faculty and teaches regularly in the MSW and PhD programs in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She serves as a board member for a backpack food program at her local elementary school and is a member of several advisory boards focused on issues in the criminal legal system. When she is not working or driving her children to sporting events, Dr. Wilson can be found walking her dogs, spending time with family and friends, and trying to convince her family to play pickleball.

“I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to pursue my PhD studies at SP2. The invaluable education and training I received at SP2 created opportunities for me to help develop policies and practices for people with mental illness that I could only dream about when I was a practicing social worker in the community mental health system. Through my educational experiences at SP2, I also built relationships with faculty and fellow students that continue to support and fuel my work to this day.”