Recognizing Excellence

Recognition is not something Joseph Strickland seeks. It always seems to find him nonetheless.

Strickland, PhD, associate director of the Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research, was named a recipient of the 2025 UIC Chancellor’s Academic Professional Excellence (CAPE) award, recognizing the excellence and contributions to the University of Illinois Chicago and Chicago communities. Strickland and the other beneficiaries will be honored at the Employee Recognition Award Ceremony Nov. 6.

“You demonstrate outstanding leadership in advancing justice-focused research and community partnerships,” Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda wrote in a letter presented to Strickland. “Your work addressing community violence, supporting justice-impacted individuals, and mentoring students across disciplines exemplifies UIC’s mission of public service, equity, and excellence. Colleagues and collaborators laud your ability to build trust, lead with humility, and turn bold ideas into meaningful action. Your work reflects and strengthens UIC’s mission.”

Earlier this year the Chicago Defender honored Strickland with a Men of Excellence Award, and he also received a 2025 Trailblazer Award from the Global Strategists Association (GSA).

Social work has always been on Strickland’s mind, even though he began his career in the computer services industry in the Boston area. He saw first-hand how helping others impacted their lives, as his parents were always available when a friend or neighbor needed assistance. A conversation with a client who discussed his community service work intrigued Strickland and reminded him how far he had drifted from his family’s legacy of serving others.

In 1994, at the age of 35 and having accepted a job transfer to Chicago, Strickland found himself incarcerated, spending more than five years behind bars. He vowed to himself that he was not going to sit idly by during his confinement. Remembering how his parents were always there for others, Strickland was going to do the same.

“People do not view prison as a community,” Strickland said. “However, I felt an obligation to help build a healthy environment and promote the men building their transformation to healthy lifestyles before they were released.”

Returning to a world free of bars, Strickland started and managed a youth service organization in Chicago’s Woodlawn community. Having received a bachelor’s degree in general studies from Roosevelt University, Strickland returned to school to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. He felt the knowledge he would gain could assist him in better operating his non-profit organization.

While completing his field placement at Woodlawn East Community and Neighbors (WECAN) during his second year of graduate school, Strickland was introduced to a JACSW student who was performing a field visit at the site. The student was accompanied by Glynne Gervais, a JACSW clinical assistant professor. Both Gervais and Strickland’s University of Chicago field instructor encouraged him to pursue a doctoral degree.

Entering the JACSW as a doctoral student in 2005, Strickland’s dissertation focused on how Black male former prisoners employed social capital to secure employment upon their release. Dean Creasie Finney Hairston, Strickland’s committee chair, felt the project would be a good fit for the Policy Center. In addition to his dissertation, Strickland was responsible for submitting faculty research projects to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) while also serving as editorial assistant for the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.

Following his graduation from JACSW in 2008, Strickland began working at the Policy Center on a permanent basis, where he continues to work today. The Center informs the public and increases awareness of social conditions through various avenues, including publications, conference presentations and other public appearances, workshops and trainings, and community assemblies. Strickland has led or assisted in instituting forums on women, mental health, and the justice system; sex trafficking; fathers, the streets, and the criminal justice system; and older adult former prisoners, among others. He has also executed capacity building for new organizations, built coalitions, and conducted research that contributes to the social work field. Most recently, he has been involved in research exploring how Black and Latina women and girls are affected by violence.

When Strickland entered the JACSW doctoral program, he intended to conduct research on unintentional injury to children in low-income communities. But his environment dictated a different path.

“In the community that I am from and where I live now, someone goes or returns from jail or prison every week,” he said. “So, the guys in the ‘hood demanded that I focus on reentry. At that time, they were still in the streets. Now, some of those same men have degrees, run organizations and businesses, and are mentoring high risk individuals. It’s been great to see.”

Strickland was glad he heeded the call to enter the social work field, and said he is forever grateful for the support he has received from UIC and the JACSW.

“I was surprised to receive the CAPE Award, but also proud that I have a dean and colleagues who believe that I should receive recognition,” Strickland said. “It’s invigorating and inspiring to have Dean Hairston as a leader and mentor. Outside of work, I have had to deal with some tragic events while at the Policy Center, and in every instance, she would make sure I was OK.

“She has supported my passion to be focused on the communities and populations that are important to me. You can see the results of our work in people, organizations and communities. I thoroughly enjoy what I do.”