Education
B.A. cum laude, Psychology, University of Colorado at Denver
M.S.W., School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas
Ph.D., School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas

Background
Miriam Potocky was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and came to the United States with her family as a child refugee.  She received her B.A. in Psychology cum laude from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1984.  She received her M.S.W. in 1990 and her Ph.D. in Social Welfare in 1993, both from the University of Kansas, Lawrence.  She is a Professor in the Florida International University School of Social Work, where she has been on the faculty since 1993.

Dr. Potocky is a specialist in refugee resettlement, human rights, international social work, and research methodology.  She has authored over 50 publications, including Best Practices for Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants (Columbia University Press, 2002). 

Dr. Potocky has received external funding for work on refugees and immigrants from the Florida Department of Children and Families Office of Refugee Services, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the International Rescue Committee, and the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture.

Dr. Potocky has served on the editorial boards of numerous leading social work journals, has held leadership positions in the Society for Social Work and Research, and has served as a consultant to local, state, national, and international governmental and non-governmental agencies.  She has twice received awards for excellence in teaching and twice received awards for meritorious performance.  She is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in Social Sciences Higher Education, and Who’s Who in American Education.

Courses:
Social Work Practice with Diverse Populations (MSW)
Social Work Practice with Immigrants and Refugees (MSW)
Social Work Research (BSW and MSW)
Evaluating Empirically-Based Social Work Practice (MSW)
Human Behavior in the Social Environment (BSW)
Quantitative Data Analysis (Ph.D.)

Research
Selected Recent Publications:

Potocky, M. (2013).  Asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants.  In Franklin,
C. G. (ed.), Online Encyclopedia of Social Work.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Potocky, M. (2012).  Social policy and services for refugees.  In U. A. Segal & D. Elliott (eds.), Refugees Worldwide, Vol. 4: Law, Policy, and Programs (pp. 176-195).  Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Potocky, M. (2011).  Human trafficking training and identification of international victims in the United States).  Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 9, 196-199.

Potocky, M. (2010).  Effectiveness of services for victims of international human trafficking: An exploratory evaluation.  Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 8, 1-27.

Potocky, M. (2010).  The travesty of human trafficking: A decade of failed U.S. policy.  Social Work, 55, 373-375.

Potocky, M. (2010).  Social work practice with victims of transnational human trafficking.  In N. Negi & R. Furman (eds.), Transnational Social Work Practice.  New York: Columbia University Press (pp. 111-123).

Potocky, M. (2010).  Social work practice in refugee resettlement.  In N. Negi & R. Furman (eds.), Transnational Social Work Pratice.  New York: Columbia University Press (pp. 124-134).

Potocky, M. (2008).  Effective practice with refugees and immigrants (Revised).  In A. R. Roberts (Ed.), Social Workers’ Desk Reference (2nd ed.).  New York: Oxford University Press (pp. 944-948).

Potocky, M. (2008).  Immigrants and refugees in the United States.  In T. Mizrahi and L. Davis (eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Work, 20th ed.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Potocky, M. (2006).  Risk and protective factors in the perceived health of children of immigrants.  Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 8, 11-18.

Interests
Under the pen name Miriam Auerbach, Dr. Potocky writes a series of satirical mysteries featuring Harley-riding, wisecracking female private eye Harriet Horowitz.  Her debut novel, Dirty Harriet (Harlequin, 2006) won the national RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best First Series Novel.  This was followed by Dirty Harriet Rides Again (Harlequin, 2007).  Both books were reissued by Bell Bridge Books in 2013.  The third and fourth novels in the series, Dirty Harriet’s Darkest Hour and Dirty Harriet Gets Clean, will be published by Bell Bridge in 2013 and 2014.  Miriam Auerbach serves as Vice President of the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.