Campus: Norman
Email: anatale@ou.edu
Education:
PhD, University of Denver
MSW, Portland State University
BS in Social Sciences, Washington State University
Anthony P. Natale, MSW, PhD, is a Professor of Social Work who joined the faculty in 2005. He currently serves as Director of the Ph.D. Program in Social Work, which will welcome its first cohort in Fall 2025. Dr. Natale has previously held key leadership roles, including Graduate Coordinator and Assistant Director in the School of Social Work. He also served as the Graduate College Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence, where he led initiatives supporting underrepresented graduate students across the academic lifecycle—from recruitment and admission to retention and graduation.
Dr. Natale holds a joint appointment in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work and with University Outreach where he serves as the Senior Administrative Director for the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies (SWCHRS), a nearly 75-year-old center dedicated to organizes learning communities on issues of human conflict and resolution.
His research spans four core themes: inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and belonging (IDEA-B) in higher education; HIV/AIDS health disparities among minoritized populations; trauma-informed interventions in social work practice; and social work with LGBTQQIPA2+ individuals.
He teaches Professional Development Seminar and Andragogy for Social Work in the Ph.D. program and offers courses in Human Sexuality, Social Welfare Policy, and Human Diversity and Societal Oppression. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Forensic Social Work Practice
