Shannon Lane, Ph.D.

Director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, Professor-in-Residence

Shannon R. Lane, is professor-in-residence and director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her research interests include political justice, social policy, macro social work practice, voting rights, voter engagement, civic engagement, and democracy, with a primary focus on political social work.

A nationally recognized scholar in political social work, Dr. Lane has authored and co-authored numerous publications on voter engagement, political participation, policy advocacy, and social work education, including the books Political Social Work: Using Power to Create Social Change (chapters downloaded more than 1.26 million times) and Social Welfare Policy in a Changing World.  Her work has appeared in 45-peer reviewed journals and book chapters including Social Work, Journal of Social Work Education, Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, Journal of Policy Practice, Journal of Women and Social Work, Advances in Social Work, and others.

At the Humphreys Institute, Dr. Lane oversees the national Voting is Social Work campaign and the Campaign School for Social Workers, a two-day training that has prepared more than 3,000 social work students and professionals from around the world to run for political office and hold leadership positions in political and policy settings. She also teaches doctoral and masters courses in macro social work practice, including political advocacy, macro practice, social welfare history, and program evaluation. She regularly testifies in front of the Connecticut General Assembly on a range of policy issues, including election administration and access to voting and is committed to preparing future social workers to advance social change through the political process.

Before entering academia, Dr. Lane spent more than a decade working on Capitol Hill, serving in leadership and administrative roles for Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and U.S. Senators Mark Pryor and Ben Nelson. She has been studying political social work and voting for more than 20 years.

Dr. Lane was awarded the Outstanding Individual in Academia award in 2026 from the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. She has also been recognized by Influencing Social Policy for her published work on voting and policy practice and by her local community for her dedicated service to the community. She was selected as a Media Fellow in 2025-2026 by the Scholar Strategy Network.

Dr. Lane holds a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and an MSW from the University of Michigan, where she focused her studies on the management of human service organizations, social policy and evaluation, and communities and social systems. She also holds a BA in psychology from George Washington University. She is a certified Elections Moderator for the State of Connecticut.

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