Serena Simmons Connelly ’92

Serena Simmons Connelly ’92, of Dallas; Apr. 22. She earned a master’s in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1995 and set out to change the world. She served HIV/AIDS patients in Dallas, then worked with the city’s refugee community and torture survivors. When an agency serving those survivors faced closure, she was instrumental in establishing the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, which is now in its 20th year serving immigrant survivors of human rights abuses. She later joined the Harold Simmons Foundation, where she worked to help those in the greatest need. She also served on boards including the Texas Women’s Foundation, the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, and the North Texas Regional Board of USA for UNICEF. She was named 2001 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers Texas Chapter and a Distinguished Alumna by the University of Texas at Arlington in 2014. She is survived by her husband, Tom; two children; her mother; a stepmother; three sisters; a stepsister; a stepbrother; as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.