WMU alumna earns prestigious Oxford appointment

KALAMAZOO Mich.—Dr. Angelique Day, Legislative Director at CRISP (Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy), has been appointed Senior Academic Research Leader in Children’s Social Care at the University of Oxford’s Rees Center. Her new role will focus on advancing international research on children’s social care systems, including stability, well-being and outcomes for youth in care and adoption. The appointment underscores the global impact of her work connecting research, policy and advocacy.

Day brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the position, having spent time in foster care and built a distinguished academic career. She currently serves as a professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work and previously held roles at Wayne State University, where she launched a program supporting foster youth in higher education. She earned her Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program at Western Michigan University, further grounding her work in research and practice.

Throughout her career, Day has worked across child welfare practice, research and legislative advocacy, with a focus on issues such as kinship care, transitions out of foster care and culturally responsive, trauma-informed approaches. Her appointment highlights the importance of integrating lived experience with research and public policy to better serve children and families in care systems.