Events
Beverly Howard Award: In the summer of 2002, Kathy Wade, director of the UMHS Department of Social Work, envisioned an award intended to augment existing methods of staff recognition to be presented annually to one outstanding member.
Howard was a 1976 graduate of the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work. She started working in the U-M Communicative Disorders Clinic in 1978 and joined the UMHS Department of Social Work in 1986, where she was assigned to Neurology and Neurosurgery. Howard transferred to Transplant in 1989, working with kidney, pancreas and liver transplant patients and families. She was a long-time champion of organ donation, particularly with minority communities and was constantly educating others within and outside the hospital about the gift of life. Howard is known for giving voice to those who had none and being their tenacious advocate.
The consummate social worker, Howard saw the individual first, then the influence of their environment and then addressed their immediate concerns in the context of their overall health. Her starting and finishing point was always, 'Do what works,' and in between reminded one and all that 'It is only impossible if you believe it to be so.'
