FGCU professor receives lifetime achievement award for dedication to social work
- Bill Studenc
- July 16, 2024
- College of Health & Human Services
- Contributors: James Greco, Photos
5 – minute read
A Florida Gulf Coast University social work professor who discovered his life’s calling “by accident” has received a lifetime achievement award in recognition of his work to help meet the needs of Southwest Florida’s growing population of older adults.
Tom Felke, also associate dean of FGCU’s Marieb College of Health & Human Services and director of the Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging, accepted the honor from the Florida chapter of the National Association of Social Workers at its 50th anniversary conference in June.
Criteria for the new award include repeated outstanding achievements, recognition beyond the social work profession, contributions of lasting impact and outstanding creativity. Dawn Brown, chapter executive director, characterized Felke as a deserving recipient.
“Dr. Felke’s brilliance is evident not only in his work in higher education but also in his advocacy work within the community and social work profession,” Brown said. “He exhibits social work values such as social justice and the dignity and worth of a person in all of his actions.”
A faculty member at the university since 2011, Felke was nominated by former student Angela Kermeur, who graduated this spring with her bachelor’s degree in social work.
“When I learned there was a new award in Florida for lifetime achievement, I immediately knew I had to nominate Dr. Felke,” said Kermeur. “I always like to show individuals appreciation as much as I can, because I feel like we don’t express that enough as a society. Given the criteria for the award, I thought he exemplifies every category to the fullest extent.”
Kermeur praised Felke as “an outstanding role model” who exemplifies the profession’s values and ethics, while also possessing a passion for macro social work. He uses his expertise in research, grant writing and geographic information systems to “facilitate great systems change in Southwest Florida.”
Felke, who earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Rhode Island’s Providence College, said he did not consider social work as a possible career during his undergraduate years.
“I came to social work somewhat by accident,” he said. “My dad was a Philadelphia police officer, and my mom was an early childhood education teacher. I respected aspects of both their careers but never aspired to either of them. My high school instilled in us to be ‘men for others,’ which I took to heart from a volunteer perspective, but I never knew how it would translate as a career.”
Felke developed a passion for social policy while completing his undergraduate practicum and internship at the Rhode Island Department of Health in the Office for Children with Special Needs. There, he worked on a community-based initiative addressing lead poisoning and helped develop policy resulting in a connected database for children’s health records.
Those experiences ignited a spark to use technology — specifically geographic information systems — as a policy and administrative tool to effect societal changes. Felke went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in social work at the University of Connecticut.
“I started adjunct teaching right after my MSW graduation in 2004 and was hooked. I picked up courses as an adjunct faculty throughout the university system in Connecticut during my doctoral program,” said Felke, who first joined FGCU as a nonclinical social work faculty member. “I knew FGCU was the right place for me from the start, as I would be able to engage in the type of work that I wanted to do both at the university and in the community,” he said.
In addition to teaching and mentoring students, Felke has worked on behalf of Southwest Florida’s aging population, launching a community needs assessment of older adults in Collier County shortly after arriving on campus.
“I did not know much about that population because most of my work had been with children and families, and I was still learning about the region. I leaned into my GIS skills and conducted the needs assessment with that as the basis. It was amazing — and disheartening — to hear older adults talk about how they felt they were a forgotten population despite the large percentage of the population they represent,” he said.
Results of Felke’s study were picked up by several local media outlets, and PBS’s “NewsHour” produced a national story on the work.
“After that, more attention was paid to the situation of older adults in Southwest Florida. Three senior centers were founded in Collier and Lee counties. I have the pleasure of continuing to work with all of them today, in addition to directing FGCU’s Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging,” Felke said. “It has been very rewarding seeing the results of a small community needs assessment having such a major impact in the region.”
Felke admits to feeling a touch of imposter syndrome walking onto the stage to accept a lifetime achievement award. He credits support from students, colleagues and community partners as critical to the work recognized by the honor, and he is quick to point out the job is far from over.
“We still have a lot of work to do, not only focused on older adults but also in affordable housing, food insecurity and access to mental health services,” he said. “I look forward to continuing the work on these collaborative efforts to better the situations for those less fortunate in Southwest Florida — and beyond.”