Cynthia Franklin, Ph.D., LCSW-S

Cynthia Franklin, Ph.D, LCSW-S, LMFT, is the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and the associate dean for doctoral education at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. Franklin also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Dell Medical School and faculty fellowships at the Humanities Institute and at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk in the Department of Special Education.

Franklin’s career bridges clinical practice, research, teaching and leadership. She was named one of the 100 most influential contemporary social work faculty for the overall impact of her more than 200 publications (Journal of Social Service Research, 2019). Franklin was honored with the Gary Lee Shaffer award for academic contributions to the field of school social work and was also inducted into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Franklin received the designation “Social Work Pioneer” from the National Association of Social Workers for her unique dedication and commitment to improve social and human conditions.

Trained as a family therapist, Franklin is an internationally recognized expert on solution-focused brief therapy and mental health in the context of schools. She has published numerous intervention studies and meta-analyses in refereed journals and several books for mental health professionals that demonstrate the effectiveness and implementation of SFBT with at-risk children and adolescents.

In 2002, Franklin helped develop a solution-focused dropout-prevention program for high-risk adolescents in Austin, Gonzalo Garza Independence High School, which reduces dropout rates and helps students graduate and attend college. Garza High School’s continuous success has resulted in several recognitions including the Texas Education Agency model school program and the United States Department of Education ranking as a top five dropout-prevention program.

Franklin regularly serves in administrative and national leadership positions. Franklin is the past-president for the Group Advancement for Doctoral Education and the past editor-in-chief of the journal Children in Schools. For the past seven years, she has served as editor-in-chief for the Encyclopedia of Social Work and managed the migration from a print version of the encyclopedia to an interactive online version.