Marilyn L. Flynn

Marilyn L. Flynn was appointed dean of the USC School of Social Work in 1997.

Flynn was formerly director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and director of the School of Social Work at Michigan State University. She has held positions of national leadership in the Council on Social Work Education, was for many years president of the St. LouisGroup (which represents all North American schools of social work in research-extensive universities) and was president of the California Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work Programs. She currently serves as president of the National Network of Social Work Managers and of the Los Angeles Center for Nonprofit Management. She also is a member of the board of the Crenshaw Educational Partnership, and a member of the faculty in the Leadership Academy of the National Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work, which is sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine.

Her academic interests include applications of virtual reality for education and clinical treatment, cross-cultural perspectives on service delivery, and research development for the professions in higher education. She is regarded as an expert in resource development and academic leadership. In 1999, she established the James E. Flynn Prize for Research, an internationally competitive award that recognizes a scholar whose interdisciplinary studies have significantly shaped modern social policy – the first of its kind in the social work profession. She also introduced the school’s International Social Welfare Award for outstanding work in human rights. The first award was given to Mme. Kim Dae Jung, then-first lady of Korea.

Flynn holds a B.A. in history and sociology from Roosevelt University, and an M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana, where she specialized in social policy and economics.

Last Updated: 12/16/10