CPACS Alumni Award Recipients | Maha Younes and Marian Standeven

Maha Younes | Grace Abbott School of Social Work

Maha Younes immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, and began her journey in higher education by earning a baccalaureate degree with a double major in social work and psychology. She earned a Masters of Educational Psychology, a Masters of Social Work, and a Ph.D. in Adult and Community Education. Before discovering her passion for teaching, Younes practiced as a licensed clinical social worker and a licensed mental health practitioner where she served survivors of sexual abuse and assault, domestic violence, and individuals struggling with eating disorders and other mental health issues. This experience provided the foundation for an empowerment-driven teaching and leadership approach that she practiced since joining the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1991. With more than twenty years in the practice arena, more than twenty-eight years of teaching experience as a university professor, and fifteen years of service as the chair of the social work program at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, she considers herself beyond blessed. She is committed to promoting cultural humility through teaching, service, and research. She was selected as a Fulbright-Hays Scholar to Thailand and Myanmar in 2005, and has organized successful international experiences to thirteen countries to cultivate global engagement and citizenship among students.

Younes has fourteen refereed publications and book chapters, and has delivered more than sixty professional presentations at local, state, national, and international venues. She is relentless in advancing statewide partnerships to professionalize the child welfare workforce and in advocating for rural access to graduate social work education to address the shortage of behavioral health workforce beyond Lincoln and Omaha. She spearheaded legislative and intercampus efforts that resulted in the offering of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Masters of Social Work program in Central and Western Nebraska. Younes is a recipient of the UNK Leland Holdt/Security Mutual Life Insurance Company Distinguished Faculty Award, and the Nebraska Social Worker of the Year.

Marian Standeven | Division of Continuing Studies

Marian Standeven, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, is currently the vice president for mission integration at the College of Saint Mary. In her work she ensures the understanding and application of the mission in all facets of the CSM community. Standeven leads the Leadership Formation programming for staff and faculty leaders and the Board Formation Series. She oversees the Inclusive Campus Strategic Direction and the Office of Multicultural Initiatives. At CSM, she chairs the Institutional Sustainability Committee and serves on the Service Learning Advisory Council.

Standeven started her professional career as a registered nurse before moving into the field of mission integration, in which she has worked over 30 years. Prior to her work at CSM, she directed the departments of mission integration, ethics, pastoral services and language access (interpreters and translators) at CHI Health, a 13-hospital system in Nebraska and Iowa. Standeven is committed to the development of mission-focused organizations and particularly to the charism of mercy. While in the healthcare field, she served on the boards of directors for Hope Medical Outreach Coalition and One World Community Health Center.

Standeven earned a Bachelor of General Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1981 and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland in 1985.