Michigan State’s Anna Maria Santiago Recognized by the Association for Community Organization and Social Action

Anna Maria Santiago, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Social Science at Michigan State University, was selected as the winner of the Career Achievement Award by the Association for Community Organization and Social Action.

The award honors the lifetime contribution of a person in the field who has made major contributions to the conceptual definition of community practice, the empirical knowledge base of the discipline, and the significant development of practice methods. Dr. Santiago’s scholarship is concerned with conditions in urban communities and the ways in which social policies can impact the opportunities, risks, and social structures within them.

“I was truly surprised to receive the notification about this award. I am grateful for the recognition of a lifetime of work dedicated to addressing the perduring inequalities and disparities in opportunities experienced by Latinx, African American, and other minoritized groups in the United States and beyond. I especially want to thank the thousands of research participants who have entrusted me and my research teams with the telling of their stories and experiences through our research,” said Dr. Santiago.

Dr. Santiago, an internationally known expert on the influence of place on the health and well-being, opportunities, and life chances of Latinx and African American families and children, joined the College of Social Science at Michigan State University as a professor of social work in 2015. She was appointed as an associate dean in January 2018. Her previous positions include serving as the inaugural holder of the Leona Bevis and Marguerite Haynam Professorship in Community Development at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and as a professor and inaugural director of the Ph.D. Program in social work at Wayne State University in Detroit. Dr. Santiago is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Community Practice.

Dr. Santiago earned her undergraduate degree in social sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned her master’s degree in geography and her doctoral degree in urban social institutions from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.