Department of Social Work

Karen Nichols

Phone: 726-8023
Office: 234 Bohannon Hall
Email: knichols@d.umn.edu

Karen Nichols has been with the Department of Social Work since 2000, first as an Associate Administrator and currently as the Associate Director of the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies. She is responsible for managing Title IV-E and other externally funded projects, and helping to develop new projects for the Center.

Karen graduated from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, and after three years working in Kenya and Tanzania, earned a Masters degree in Intercultural Administration at the school for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. Before returning to Minnesota, Karen worked for 7 years as the Executive Director of the Foundation for the People of South Pacific (FSP) Vanuatu, a non profit NGO which supports the needs of indigenous people of Vanuatu. She is currently working toward a doctorate in Higher Education Policy and Administration through the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.