Sarah Gehlert, PhD was appointed dean of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in 2020. She previously served as dean of the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina and is known for her work on the connections between social and environmental factors and health, with a focus on vulnerable populations.

Before her post at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Gehlert held a joint appointment at Washington University in St. Louis, where she served as the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery.

Dr. Gehlert has held numerous leadership and research positions throughout her career, including current president of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and past president of the Society for Social Work and Research — both preeminent national organizations for social work researchers and practitioners.