Meet Social Work Faculty Tenured in 2022

Social Work professor Brenda Jones Harden joined Columbia's tenured faculty in 2022. Tenure is a distinction that recognizes scholarly excellence, demonstrated capacity for imaginative, original work, and great promise for continued contributions at the leading edge of the disciplines.

Brenda Jones Harden conducts research to inform social policy and practice, using a community engagement approach. Her research focuses on how early adversity, especially trauma, impacts children’s developmental and mental health outcomes. She also conducts evaluations of early childhood services, including early care and education, parenting interventions, child welfare services, and infant/early childhood mental health programs. Professor Jones Harden has published two books, Infants In Child Welfare and Beyond Common Sense: Child Welfare, Child Well-Being, and the Evidence for Policy Reform, and numerous journal articles and book chapters. Professor Jones Harden has a strong record of mentoring doctoral students and supporting underrepresented minorities through her teaching and advising. 

Professor Jones Harden obtained her BA in Social Science and Spanish from Fordham University in 1979. She received her MSW in Family and Child Welfare at New York University in 1980 and earned her PhD in Developmental and Clinical Psychology from Yale University in 1996. Professor Jones Harden started her career at the University of Maryland as Assistant Professor in 1996.