Enola K. Proctor, Ph.D., the Frank J. Bruno Professor of Social Work Research and associate dean for research at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the National Institutes of Health.
Enola Proctor
The National Advisory Mental Health Council advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the director of the National Institutes of Health; and the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) on all policies and activities relating to the conduct and support of mental-health research, research training and other programs of the institute.
“This is an extraordinary scientific honor and leadership role in the field,” said Edward F. Lawlor, Ph.D., dean and the William E. Gordon Professor of Social Work at the Brown School.
“Enola’s selection reflects her outstanding scholarly contributions in mental health services, her professional leadership and her passion for pushing scientific advancement into mental health practice,” Lawlor added. “I believe that Enola is the first social-work researcher to serve as adviser in the history of the council.”
The director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the Brown School, Proctor has advanced knowledge in social work through many roles. She has served as a board member of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research, chair of the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work and chair of the Brown School’s doctoral program.
She also directs NIMH-funded doctoral training program in mental health services research. The NIMH is the federal government’s principal biomedical and behavioral research agency.
Proctor specializes in mental health and health service delivery, post-acute health and mental health community care and development of knowledge to guide the delivery and evaluation of social work practice.
An award-winning teacher and scholar with influential publications to her name, Proctor received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Social Work Research from the National Association of Social Work in 1994.
The University recognized her with a Distinguished Faculty Award in 1992. Proctor received the same award from WUSTL’s Alumni Association in 1998, and this year received teaching and mentoring awards from the Brown School and the University.