Associate Professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work

Shannon R. Lane, LMSW, PhD began her political career on Capitol Hill, working for U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle as well as Senators Nelson and Pryor for 10 years.  She received her MSW from the University of Michigan. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 2009, with a dissertation examining the experiences of social workers who ran for political office. 

Dr. Lane is the co-author of Political Social Work: Using Power to Create Social Change with Suzanne Pritzker.  She also wrote Social Welfare Policy in a Changing World with Elizabeth Palley and Corey Shdaimah, which was awarded the 2022 Textbook and Academic Authors Association award for Most Promising New Textbook.

Dr. Lane is an Associate Professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work and the Associate Director of Dissertation Advising for the Wurzweiler PhD Program.  She chairs the Research Committee for the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. In 2021, she helped to create the first ever Macro United Conference, bringing together social work macro practitioners, researchers, academics, and students from all macro methods.

Her current research includes the ways criminal justice social workers talk with their clients about voting, leadership in social work education, and social workers who serve as elections officials.  With the Humphreys Institute, she continues to examine and improve models for voter engagement and the Campaign School for Social Workers. She is the Deputy Registrar of Voters in Bethany, Connecticut, where she lives with her daughters.  Dr. Lane is an advocate for voting rights and political justice.