College of Social Work<\/a>.<\/p>\nFoster currently serves as dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington and will begin his role at Florida State\u00a0on\u00a0Aug.\u00a017.<\/p>\n
With more than two decades of experience in higher education leadership, teaching and research, Foster has built a career focused on strengthening communities, advancing evidence-based\u00a0practice\u00a0and preparing students for careers in public service and behavioral health.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Foster is an accomplished leader with a strong record of academic excellence,\u00a0translational research,\u00a0student success and community engagement,\u201d said Jim Clark, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Florida State University, who previously served seven years as dean of the FSU College of Social Work. \u201cHe understands the\u00a0important role\u00a0social workers play in supporting individuals, families and communities, and\u00a0the crucial workforce contributions that the College makes to the State of Florida.\u00a0He brings the experience and vision needed to lead the college into its next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understands the\u00a0important role\u00a0social workers play in supporting individuals, families and communities, and\u00a0the crucial workforce contributions that the College makes to the State of Florida.\u00a0He brings the experience and vision needed to lead the college into its next chapter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jim Clark, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs<\/p>\n
Before joining UT Arlington in 2024, Foster served as director of the School of Social Work at East Carolina University and previously held leadership roles at the University of South Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Foster also enjoys a strong national reputation within his profession. He serves as president of the Society for Social Work and Research, the field\u2019s leading scholarly organization, and has held\u00a0numerous\u00a0leadership roles advancing research and evidence-based practice in social work.<\/p>\n
Foster\u2019s work has focused on behavioral health, community partnerships and strengthening public trust in institutions. His research has examined topics including economic mobility, neighborhood change and relationships between communities and law enforcement. He is the co-author of \u201cChasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes,\u201d which received the Society for Social Work and Research\u2019s award for Best Scholarly Book in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am honored and excited to join the FSU College of Social Work. I look forward to working with staff, students, faculty, alumni and community partners throughout the state to write the first chapter of the College\u2019s next 100 years of impact and transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Kirk Foster, new dean of the College of Social Work<\/p>\n
The FSU College of Social Work prepares students for careers in clinical practice, mental health services, child welfare, veterans services and community leadership. The college is nationally recognized for its online graduate\u00a0programs\u00a0and research focused on improving health and well-being across Florida communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am honored and excited to join the FSU College of Social Work,\u201d Foster said. \u201cI look forward to working with staff, students, faculty, alumni and community partners throughout the state to write the first chapter of the College\u2019s next 100 years of impact and transformation.<\/p>\n
Foster earned a Ph.D. and Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary and a bachelor\u2019s degree in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n
He succeeds Dean David Springer, who\u00a0is\u00a0returning\u00a0to the University of Texas at Austin as a Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional, and Corporate Excellence and University Distinguished Teaching Professor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida State University has appointed Kirk A. Foster as the next dean of the College of Social Work.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56746,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-301360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-college-of-social-work","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SW-Dean-Annc-1.1F-1.jpg\")
Florida State University has appointed Kirk A. Foster as the next dean of the College of Social Work. Foster, who currently leads the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington, steps into the new role on August 17.\t\t<\/p>\n