College of Social Interim Dean Teri Browne has been awarded the Robert W. Whitlock Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Kidney Foundation’s Council on Nephrology Social Work. Browne received the award April 8 during the foundation’s spring meeting.

The award is named for Robert W. Whitlock, MSSW, MHA, LCSW, Director of the Missouri Kidney Program and a leader in the kidney community who passed away in 2008. Recipients are chosen for their advancement of the nephrology social work profession and improving the lives of kidney patients and family through research, presentations and programming development.

“Since getting a PhD and starting my academic career at the University of South Carolina, I have continued to do research and service with the kidney disease community. It is the honor of my career to be chosen for the Council on Nephrology Social Work’s Lifetime Achievement Award and means so much to me,” said Browne.

With more than 25 years of experience in nephrology social work, Browne is currently the Interim Dean and Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work. She earned her MSW at the State University of New York at Buffalo, her PhD at the University of Chicago and worked as a nephrology social worker for 13 years.

She also served as the national chairperson of CNSW and continues to work extensively with CNSW and the National Kidney Foundation. She is the editor-in-chief of the National Kidney Foundation’s Journal of Nephrology Social Work, authoring numerous journal articles along with the Handbook of Health Social Work.

“I have worked with the National Kidney Foundation Council of Nephrology Social Workers for decades, locally, across the country and also nationally. It’s been my great fortune,” said Browne.

Browne joined the College of Social Work faculty in 2008 as an assistant professor. She has extensive research experience in behavioral health social work, kidney disease treatment and transplant access and was named Interim Dean in 2021.