Stephanie Hartwell

Director, Heidelberg Project Board of Directors

Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University

Stephanie Hartwell is a sociologist and the first female Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University. Dean Hartwell, or Steffi as she prefers, conducts both large and small-scale research and evaluation projects focusing on transitions from institutions to the community with emphasis on vulnerable populations, including formerly incarcerated persons released from corrections and victims of gun violence with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Steffi received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1995 and was an assistant professor of psychiatry at the UConn School of Medicine prior to joining the faculty at UMass Boston, an institution that shares Wayne's State's social justice mission. A professor of sociology at UMass Boston and adjunct professor of psychiatry at UMass Medical School for 21 years, Steffi received the Chancellor's Medal for Distinguished Teaching in 2012. Prior to joining Wayne State in 2018, she was interim dean of UMass Boston's College of Public and Community Service and an associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts in tandem.

Steffi was honored to be named an Esteemed Woman in Michigan by the Gary Burnstein Community Health Center in Pontiac in 2019. She is the very proud mother of two lovely daughters and spends a lot of time at sports venues cheering them on. She loves to run, garden, read, and watch the occasional Lions game as she is a huge fan of a solid underdog.