News Release

Bill Lamb to Receive Social Worker of the Year Award

February 18, 2004

On March 12, 2004, Bill Lamb, Associate Director for Public Service at the Institute on Aging, will be named the Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter. The award presentation will take place during the 2004 Ethics Conference and Annual Awards Program at the NCSU McKimmon Center in Raleigh, NC.

This prestigious award honors Bill's lifetime of service. Over the course of his career, Bill's efforts have not only benefited North Carolinians, but also the professional community of aging and human services, and the social work profession. He was one of the first state consultants to work with the Medicaid Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults, initiating the Medicaid Enhanced Care Program in Adult Care Homes and local Social Services Departments.

Bill also was influential in developing state aging policy by leading three State Aging Services Plans, producing North Carolina Comes of Age, a demographic profile of older North Carolinians, and providing staff support to the Home and Community Care Advisory Committee, the Long-Term Care Roundtable, and most recently the Long Term Care Advisory Committee of the NC Institute of Medicine.

Bill has been a past president of the North Carolina Association of Social Workers and of the UNC School of Social Work Alumni Association, and he currently serves on the boards of Friends of Residents in Long Term Care (as chair), the NC Social Work Certification and Licensing Board, Resources for Seniors in Wake County, the North Carolina Association on Aging, Wake County United Way Senior Task Force (as chair of the Aging sub-group), Shepherd House of Orange County and the Executive Council of AARP-NC. Bill is a volunteer with Hospice of Wake County and serves as a citizen member of Wake County's Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee. He is also an active member of Community United Church of Christ where he has served as church moderator and is current member of the Board of Deacons.

Bill joined the Institute on Aging in July of 2000, where he manages the Senior Leadership Initiative, oversees the annual North Carolina Conference on Aging, serves as a liaison to the NC Coalition on Aging, and consults with the Dept of Health and Human Services related to aging issues. Bill is a an adjunct faculty member at the UNC School of Social Work, teaching the Aging and Public Policy Course and advising students interested in the aging concentration.

Congratulations, Bill!