UA Social Work Professor Named Buford Peace Award Winner

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Josephine (Jo) Pryce, associate professor of social work at The University of Alabama, has been named the 2014 winner of the Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award.

This award, established in 2002 by School of Social Work alumnus Tony D. Walker to honor close friend Lahoma Adams Buford, is given annually to a faculty member at The University of Alabama who, through his or her teaching, research, professional practice and personal life has demonstrated exceptional levels of involvement in mediating human disputes, helping overcome prejudice, promoting justice and establishing peace.

Pryce was nominated for the Lahoma Adams Buford Peace Award because of her “commitment on making the world a better place, one characterized by creating equitable conditions for people of various backgrounds and demographics, including self-care for social workers.”

She was cited for work over the course of her career to uplift the lives of vulnerable populations, and, in particular, people living with HIV/AIDS, members of the LGBTQ community, military families and child welfare workers.

Pryce, who specializes in issues affecting veterans of military service, serves as faculty advisor to the student veterans organization at UA, the Campus Veterans Association. She is co-author of the book, “The Cost of Courage:  Combat Stress, Warriors & Family Survival.”

In 2013, the UA’s Campus Veterans Association renamed their annual Faculty Award the “Colonel and Dr. Pryce Memorial Faculty Award.”  This award, renamed in honor of Dr. Josephine Pryce and her late husband, Colonel David Pryce, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work, for their outstanding dedication to the veteran and military community at The University of Alabama.

Prior to joining the UA faculty in 1997, Pryce served as assistant professor of social work at the University of Texas-Arlington. She has received numerous awards, most recently the School of Social Work Dean’s Faculty Award given for research, teaching and service.

Pryce has published in the areas of AIDS and mental health, social work with military families, practice evaluation, and secondary traumatic stress. She has authored and co-authored numerous books, journal articles and book chapters in these areas and continues to present and offer her expertise nationally and internationally.

Serving for the past five years as a co-adviser to the Social Work Association for Cultural Awareness, or SWACA, Pryce uses her role to work with students on issues of diversity and social justice that are relevant to them both on- and off-campus.

For more information, contact Liz Dykes at eadykes@sw.ua.edu.

Established in 1965 by the Alabama Legislature, The University of Alabama School of Social Work seeks to solve bio-psychosocial problems, improve individual and social conditions and promote justice and human dignity through teaching, research and service.