The Brown School has welcomed six new faculty members, including three full professors, one research associate professor and two new lecturers, further strengthening its role as a leader in addressing today’s most pressing social challenges.
These new additions bring expertise in key areas such as child welfare, financial capability, nonprofit leadership, youth development and policy reform. Their diverse backgrounds and proven experiences will enhance the school’s commitment to research, teaching, and community engagement.
“We are thrilled to welcome this talented group to the Brown School,” said Dorian Traube, the Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation Dean of the Brown School. “Their scholarly contributions and wide-ranging expertise will enrich our work and deepen our collective impact.”
Two members began their roles in January 2025, while the remaining faculty members officially joined in July for the fall semester. In addition, one part-time faculty member has transitioned into a full-time role.
New Faculty and Lecturers
Jennifer Bellamy, Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor & Inaugural Faculty Director, Evaluation Center (July 2025)
Jennifer Bellamy joins the Brown School as the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor and inaugural faculty director of the Brown School’s Evaluation Center. Previously, she served as a faculty member in social work and vice provost for faculty affairs at the University of Denver.
A social worker by training, Bellamy specializes in fathering, child maltreatment prevention, and child welfare. Her current research focuses on the engagement of fathers in child and family services by implementing family and system-level interventions. She co-developed the Dads Matter-HV intervention, recognized by the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse as “Supported by Research Evidence,” and the Nurturing Dads and Partners (NDAP) program. Her practice experience includes clinical work in university mental health services and project coordination for the Texas Fragile Families Initiative.
Bellamy is a member of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. She earned her PhD from Columbia University and an MSSW from the University of Texas at Austin.
Saras Chung, Research Associate Professor (July 2025)
Saras Chung joins the Brown School as a research associate professor, having previously served as executive director of SKIP Designed, an education consultancy advancing equity through systems thinking.
Chung brings over two decades of experience in youth development and community-engaged research, with a focus on social systems science. Her research centers on community-based system dynamics, participatory mapping, and computational modeling to investigate how complex social and educational interventions shape long-term outcomes in under-resourced communities. Her work bridges rigorous academic inquiry and on-the-ground practice, partnering closely with educators and grassroots organizations.
At SKIP Designed, she facilitated system research initiatives with public school leaders and community-based organizations. She also facilitated the creation of the St. Louis Schools Research-Practice Collaborative, a multi-institutional partnership pairing educators with researchers to tackle relevant challenges through data-driven analysis.
Over the past decade, Chung has advised more than $30 million in philanthropic investments and delivered systems consulting, training, and research services to organizations including Google, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
A proud Brown School alumna, Chung earned both her PhD (2016) and MSW (2006) from Washington University in St. Louis, and holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Sarah Font, Professor (July 2025)
Sarah Font joins the Brown School as a professor. She is an interdisciplinary researcher focused on the impacts of the child welfare system, as well as the criminal and juvenile legal systems, on children and families.
Font comes to the Brown School from Penn State University, where she was an associate professor of sociology and public policy.
Her research primarily involves partnerships with state and local public agencies and the use of linked administrative data to inform agencies’ strengths, challenges, and priorities for reform. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health and Arnold Ventures.
Font began her career as a Child Protective Services caseworker, investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. That experience sparked an interest in how systems can better serve and protect children.
She earned her PhD in social welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a NICHD postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin.
Jin Huang, Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy (July 2025)
Jin Huang joins the Brown School as the Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy, after previously serving as a part-time research professor.
At the Brown School, Huang also serves as the associate director of research at the Center for Social Development (CSD). Before his transition, Huang was the William and Helen Reichmann Research Professor at Saint Louis University School of Social Work.
An internationally recognized expert on child and family well-being, Huang’s research focuses on financial capability, financial social work, poverty and disability, and asset-based social policy. He is a leading scholar on Child Development Accounts (CDAs), and his international collaborations span countries, including Germany, Japan, Singapore, and Mozambique.
Huang has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and was named among Stanford University’s 2024 list of the top 2% of social work scientists globally.
A fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, he holds MSW and PhD degrees from Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from China Youth University of Political Science in Beijing.
Joe Jovanovich, Lecturer (January 2025)
Joe Jovanovich, an alumnus of the Brown School, MSW ’10, began his role as a lecturer in the 2025 spring semester. He previously served the school in several capacities, including academic advisor, adjunct instructor (2013–2020), and field instructor for numerous practicum students.
Most recently, Jovanovich was chief operating officer at Seed St. Louis, where he worked at the intersection of neighborhood engagement, food justice, and climate resilience. He brings over 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, having worked with national organizations such as City Year and Beyond Housing. He also spent seven years as an independent project management consultant for various local agencies. Beyond campus, Jovanovich serves on the board of directors for earthday365, which organizes the annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival.
Katie VonDeLinde, Lecturer (January 2025)
Katie VonDeLinde, a longtime adjunct instructor and advisor at the Brown School, began her new role as a lecturer in the spring semester of 2025. She continues her work teaching and mentoring students in the Office of Field Education, with a focus on micro-level social work practice.
VonDeLinde has over 25 years of experience as a social worker improving the lives of individuals impacted by intimate partner violence through direct practice, organizational leadership, and systems change efforts.
VonDeLinde has worked on groundbreaking initiatives, including the first comprehensive economic empowerment program for survivors of intimate partner violence in the US at Redevelopment Opportunities for Women. As the founder of KMCV Consulting, LLC and an expert advisor to the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice, she has trained thousands of helping professionals in economic justice and advocacy while advancing organizational and policy reforms. She also provided counseling and advocacy at Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s AWARE program.
VonDeLinde earned her MSW from the University of Iowa and began her career as the assistant director of a dual domestic violence/sexual assault program in Southeast Iowa.