College of Education and Human Development

Family Social Science

Two FSOS alumni honored with CEHD Distinguished Alumni Awards

A CEHD Distinguished alumni and Professor

The 2024 College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony highlighted the achievements of 13 alumni, including two who received their bachelor of science degrees from the Department of Family Social Science: Misty Heggeness and Timothy Zuel. 

Misty Heggeness

Misty Heggeness (pictured left) is a 1999 graduate of FSOS. She also received master's degrees in Social Work and Public Policy as well as a doctoral degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. Honored for her innovative use of data to address poverty, inequality and decision-making, especially related to gender and economics, Heggeness' led economic research initiatives for the U.S. Department of Labor, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Census Bureau that informed decision-making within the U.S. federal government. 

Her research focuses on poverty & inequality, gender economics, and the high-skilled workforce and has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Economist, and Science. 

Currently she is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration and an associate research scientist in the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas. Her forthcoming book, Swiftynomics: Women in Today’s Economy, explores the impact of female-driven spending and the acceleration of economic power wielded by women. 

She has also developed a curriculum based on her book research to introduce high school and college students to economics. Featuring videos, PowerPoint slide decks, and worksheets, the curriculum gives instructors flexibility to explore the NFL-Taylor Swift phenomenon in a single session or over a week.

 Timothy Zuel 

A CEHD Distinguished alumni and guests.
Left to right: Timothy Zuel, Jean Quam, Dean Emerita, Stacey Horn, Department Head and Professor, FSOS. Photo by Julie Michener.

Timothy Zuel is a 1988 alumni of the FSOS undergraduate program and also received a master's and PhD in Social Work from the University of Minnesota. He was honored for his investment in child welfare, children's mental health, and school engagement over his 30-year career. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in family social science, Zuel worked in a walk-in mental health clinic in London for a year. Returning to the United States, he earned his master’s degree and began working in child abuse prevention and treatment. 

He joined the Hennepin County Health and Human Services Department, working in child protection for 18 years before moving into children’s mental health. He managed the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office's Be@School Program designed to promote school engagement. His research has centered on child maltreatment and its connection to future delinquency; early school absenteeism; minority communities school engagement; and policy issues on child welfare interventions. 

He has been an adjunct faculty at the School of Social Work for 21 years and is a board member of the Minnesota Guardian Ad Litem program. In 2020, he was the recipient of the Child Welfare Change Maker Award.