Our Graduates Become Pioneers

Our Graduates Become Pioneers

We Go Beyond...

The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work educates professional practitioners who serve our communities. But we do not stop there. For more than a century we have trained students to examine the root causes, think about the big picture and achieve solutions. Advocacy is important, but action is necessary.

When our graduates embark on their careers they are inspired, confident and prepared for leadership. They do not stand in the shadows of an issue. They embrace the challenge, develop a plan and implement lasting change.

Our graduates become more than social workers… they become pioneers who move the social work profession forward. We go beyond so that they can go beyond…

NASW Social Work Pioneers®

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) honors members of the social work profession whose contributions have enriched and evolved the profession. The NASW Social Work Pioneers® program recognizes individuals whose unique dedication, commitment and determination have significantly improved social and human conditions.

NASW Social Work Pioneers® are role models whose contributions will continue to influence and shape the direction of the social work profession for generations. Their groundbreaking work is accomplished through practice, teaching, research, writing, program development, administration, advocacy, legislative policy and election to public office.

Our Social Work Pioneers:

Chauncey Alexander, MSW ‘50

Gary M. Bess, PhD ’01

Janet Black, MSW ‘71

Millie Charles, MSW ‘58

Rev. Bernard Coughlin, MSW ‘59

Teresa DeCrescenzo, MSW ‘78

Ismael Dieppa, PhD ‘73

Suzanne Dworak-Peck, MSW ‘67

Ivor J. Echols, DSW ‘68

Frances Feldman, MSW ‘40

Douglas Glasgow, DSW ‘68

Bernice Catherine Harper, MSW ‘48

Nancy Humphreys, MSW ‘63

Shanti Khinduka, MSW ‘61

Maryann Mahaffey, MSW ‘51

Robert A. Mays, Jr., PhD ‘85

Royal Morales, MSW ‘56

George Nickel, MSW ‘32

Juan Ramos, MSW ‘60

W. June Simmons, MSW ‘70

Faustina Solís, MSW ‘54

Barbara Solomon, DSW ‘66

Judy D. Webber, MSW ‘93

Marleen Wong, MSW ‘71

Josephine Yelder, MSW ’53, DSW ‘75

Chauncey Alexander

MSW ’50

Chauncey Alexander’s pioneering efforts are largely related to his leadership and advancement of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) as the largest association of professional social workers, and he served as executive director from 1969 to 1982. While at NASW, he created numerous programs such as ELAN (Education League Action Network) and PACE (Political Action for Candidate Election), and developed specialty professional publications, competence certification and an insurance program. As an NASW ambassador, he represented social work in the international community as well as in federal, state and local governments.

His business acumen coupled with his social work expertise led to success in consulting services offered to voluntary governmental and international organizations. During his career in social work, he served as a case worker for the Family Association of Los Angeles in the California Department of Mental Hygiene and the State Relief Administration, and as a psychiatric social worker in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946, and then for the Veteran Service Center from 1946 to 1948. Alexander was also the executive director of the Southern California Society for Mental Hygiene in Los Angeles from 1950 to 1954, organizing 11 chapters and improving the mental health system in California. He was associate director of the Regional Medical Program School of Medicine, University of California, and executive director of the Los Angeles County Heart Association.

Alexander was a professor at the California State University School of Social Work. He wrote, taught, and lectured on management, community organization, social policy, health services and social welfare. He received many distinguished service awards including Social Worker of the Year and the Koshland Practitioner Award from the NASW.

Gary M. Bess PhD ‘01

For more than 40 years, Gary M. Bess focused his career on the practice of macro social work, improving access to health care and reducing disparities among marginalized populations. He served as executive director for the South Bay Free Clinic and the Los Angeles Free Clinic, leading a capital campaign for the latter to build a new facility for low-income patients.

In 1991, he founded Gary Bess Associates (GBA), a consulting firm specializing in resource development, grant writing and program evaluation for health and human services agencies. Through GBA, Bess has supported the development of more than 50 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) throughout the United States that serve thousands of residents in lowincome communities each year. GBA supports FQHC applicants in determining the scope and scale of primary care, behavioral health, oral health and other services to meet federal compliance requirements, and assists with new requests and renewals for more than $50 million in public and private grants annually. GBA is a national cross-site evaluator for federal agencies, including Indian Health Services, the Agency for Native Americans and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Its grant writing and evaluation services have helped organizations in Native American and Alaska Native Island communities as well as the Skid Row and East LA communities.

Bess has served as a board member for the Network for Social Work Management for over 20 years, including a term as board president. He is lead author of “History of Leadership and Leadership Development in Social Work Practice, Including the Military,” a contribution in the Encyclopedia of Social Work.

He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, NASW Chico Chapter and was inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction in 2021.

Janet Black

MSW ’71

Janet E. Black spent her career striving to make the social work profession a less competitive and more collegial place. Over the course of 40 years, she worked to increase the collaboration in curriculum development, training and treatment delivery systems. Black’s goal was to establish social work as an inclusive, cooperative, noncompetitive network of programs, agencies, faculty, staff and students that work together to serve the greater good.

Black served as the director of the Department of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) where she helped found the social work program and obtain its accreditation. She consulted for the mental health initiative of the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) for 10 years, developing the mental health curriculum competencies which allowed social work students to intern in the California public health system.

Black was an early advocate for distance education, and part of a national distance education grant that enabled social work programs to be accessed in California’s rural and more remote urban areas, leading to more qualified social workers and more universities developing their own Master of Social Work programs. A community service activist, she served on the Council for Social Work Education (CSWE) National Commission, the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging Task Force, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Older Adults Task Force, and as a board member for the Campfire Boys and Girls of Los Angeles.

Black is the recipient of the Meritorious Performance and Promise Award from CSULB, 1991 and 1992, and was inducted into the California Social Welfare Archives Hall of Distinction in 2016.

Millie Charles

MSW ’58

Millie McClelland Charles greatly impacted the field of health and mental health through her leadership and commitment to social work education. She led the founding of the School of Social Work at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), a historically Black institution (HBCU), at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and expertly directed the development of both the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs into full accreditation. She was appointed as dean of the School of Social Work in 1982.

Charles’ ability to expand on a handful of social work courses taught at the University of New Orleans and develop them into fully accredited BSW and MSW programs at SUNO is considered somewhat of a miracle in New Orleans. These programs have attracted a culturally diverse faculty and student population to SUNO, and educated a workforce of highly skilled and credentialed social workers.

She was a member of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum Standards, a site visitor for the CSWE Accreditation Commission, and served as consultant on curriculum development for numerous undergraduate and graduate social work programs throughout the United States. She was a founding member of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers.

Charles received numerous awards throughout her career, including Social Worker of the Year from the NASW, 1975; Humanitarian of the Year from the Federal Women Employees Association, 1975; Founders Award, New Orleans Chapter from the National Association of Black Social Workers, 1979; Doctor of Humane Letters from Dillard University, 1993; and the the Times-Picayune Loving Cup in 2013, awarded in New Orleans since 1901 to recognize lifelong commitment to community and civic work.

Rev. Bernard Coughlin

MSW ’59

Reverend Bernard J. Coughlin made multiple and unparalleled contributions in his long and illustrious career as an institution builder, civic leader, university president, social work administrator and scholar. He served as dean of the School of Social Service at St. Louis University from 1964 to 1974, and during his tenure broadened and modernized the Master of Social Work (MSW) curriculum, introducing interdisciplinary courses. He developed the country’s only doctoral program focused on social development, and constructed a brand new building to house the School of Social Service.

Coughlin was the longest-serving president of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington from 1974 to 1996, and its first chancellor. His tenure at Gonzaga was a transformative period for the institution, turning around its fiscally precarious existence into financial stability, significantly increasing enrollment and endowments, and amplifying its academic reputation. Coughlin, a Jesuit priest who entered the Society of Jesus in 1942 and took a vow of poverty, proved to be the greatest fundraiser in the history of the university.

He was appointed chairman of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce in 1988, a remarkable demonstration of affection and esteem for a social worker by the business community, and a testimony to his remarkable gift for transcending barriers and building bridges between different segments of society.

Coughlin served as chair of the Division of Professional Standards of the National Association of Social Workers from 1970 to 1973, and a representative to the International Council on Social Welfare in Helsinki, Finland. His many honors include the Distinguished Community Service Award from the Anti-Defamation League, 1992, and the Bishop’s Award for Outstanding Service from the Diocese of Spokane, 1996.

Teresa DeCrescenzo

MSW ’78

Teresa DeCrescenzo made an indelible and lasting impact on youth in foster and probation care, effected long-term systems change in the delivery of service to LGBTQ+ youth, and secured basic rights and equal access for the LGBTQ+ community. She was the founder and executive director of GLASS (Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services) in West Hollywood, California, which opened its doors in 1984 and was the first milieu-based residential treatment program for at-risk gay and lesbian teens in the United States. Established during a time when homosexuality was still identified as mental illness and criminal behavior, GLASS served as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ youth caught in the child protection system and provided a seamless service delivery system for LGBTQ+ youth and their families.

Over a period of 25 years, GLASS grew to include more than 150 employees, served thousands of LGBTQ+ youth, and included programs such as a mobile medical unit, nine therapeutic group homes, three foster family programs, vocational training and transitional living. It established the national standard for best practices for LGBTQ+ youth services. GLASS received numerous awards, including recognition by the United States Congress for its Mobile Health Outreach Project as a program of national significance. DeCrescenzo lobbied for LGBTQ+ families to have equal access to provide foster care and become adoptive parents. She demanded that Cedars-Sinai Hospital recognize same-sex relationships on its admissions forms, leading to a statewide regulatory change requiring all hospitals in California to honor same-sex relationships.

She has been honored with the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers for impact on national mental health policy, and the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee for distinguished service to children.

Ismael Dieppa PhD ‘73

Ismael Dieppa began his social work career with the Department of Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Social Work in Fresno, California and became politically active with the Mexican American community in the area. The war on poverty movement soon commanded his interest in organizing and advocacy, and he became director of the Economic Opportunity Commission in Santa Clara County, and subsequently director of the Countywide Office Economic Opportunity in neighboring Santa Cruz County. Dieppa went on to become the first executive director of the East Los Angeles Chicano Mental Health Training Center, a joint project of the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles to train Latino social workers to provide services in their own communities.

Dieppa served as associate dean for the University of Denver School of Social Work and was a tireless advocate for providing underrepresented students a pathway into the profession, recruiting a large number of Latino and Native American students into the Master of Social Work (MSW) and PhD programs. As dean of the Arizona State University (ASU) School of Social Work he extended the MSW program into Tucson, developed a Native American component to the curriculum, developed and implemented the doctoral program and increased financial support for the school from $600,000 to $2.3 million in only four years.

He was recruited back to California as dean of the College of Social Work, San Jose State University and was instrumental in developing a generalist practice program for Spanish speaking populations, expanding diversity in the student population, and providing the foundation for a transcultural social work curriculum, including community-oriented departments in African American studies, Mexican American studies, and urban and regional planning.

Suzanne Dworak-Peck

MSW ‘67

Suzanne Dworak-Peck has spent her career as a social work practitioner working with vulnerable and traditionally excluded populations. From reuniting foster children with their families, to unifying mental health organizations, to fighting for global human rights and social justice, she is a significant force in the field of social work. She has lobbied Congress, influenced international social policy, presented at the United Nations, negotiated business deals and shaped a primetime television show.

Dworak-Peck served as president of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) from 1986 to 1989, and during that time founded the NASW Communications Network, Inc. (NCN) which provides the media and entertainment industries with a centralized information and resource outlet for social issues, nationally and internationally. She is a past-president of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), which represents more than 500,000 social workers in over 80 countries around the world, and is IFSW’s first and only honorary ambassador. As president and founding member of the California Coalition for Mental Health, Dworak-Peck represented more than 30 mental health organizations and served as president twice for the California Council of Psychiatry, Psychology, Social Work and Nursing, representing more than 40,000 mental health professionals. She chaired the California Board of Behavioral Sciences which regulates the legal practice of over 40,000 licensees in clinical social work, educational psychology, and marriage, family and child counseling.

Among her many distinguished honors is the International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award from the NASW for advancing the public image of social work, 1993; the Alumni Merit Award from the University of Southern California, 2016; and the Andrew Mouravieff-Apostol Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the IFSW for outstanding contribution to international social work, 2016.

Ivor J. Echols DSW ‘68

Ivor J. Echols was a pioneering educator, civil rights activist and prominent advocate for social justice, with a particular focus on supporting the Black community and individuals living in poverty.

A professor and associate dean at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work for 20 years, she played a pivotal role in recruiting minority students and fostering multicultural understanding. Echols developed curriculum around the African American family and community, and increased the knowledge of faculty on the impact of racism and oppression on American society. Her ability to unify and inspire both Black and white students alike is considered one of her greatest areas of impact on the future of the social work profession.

During the turbulent 1970s, Echols promoted professional civility and strengthened the social work profession through her leadership. She helped develop the National Committee on Minority Affairs, served as secretary for the United Neighborhood Centers of America, member of the Advisory Committee on Aging for the National Urban League and led Connecticut’s important State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She advanced the rights of minorities and women as founder and first president of the Connecticut Caucus of Black Women for Political Action.

Her career accolades include NASW Social Worker of the Year in 1979 and Connecticut Woman of the Year in 1978. Her enduring impact on social work and civil rights is further recognized through the Dr. Ivor J. Echols Memorial Scholarship, benefiting University of Connecticut social work students of color and ensuring her legacy as a beloved teacher and trailblazer.

Frances Feldman

MSW ’40

Frances Lomas Feldman focused her career on social policy and administration. Following two decades as a social worker in public welfare and family services, she became a prominent faculty member at the University of Southern California (USC) for 36 years. Feldman’s prolific research centered on the psychological, social and economic meanings of money and work in American families, and her publications on the subject still constitute the seminal work in this field.

Her groundbreaking research projects on discrimination faced by cancer patients in the workplace were the first psychosocial studies funded by the American Cancer Society, and remain the fundamental data on this topic that led multiple states to modify their fair employment legislation.

Feldman was instrumental in establishing the first industrial social work curriculum in the western United States, and the first university-wide faculty and staff counseling center which became a model for employee counseling programs throughout California. In partnership with George D. Nickel, she established the first credit counseling service, which became a network of over 300 nationwide under the National Consumer Credit Association. Feldman’s social work skills were often called upon for high-level consultation on various issues, including by the McCone Commission to examine the Watts riots of 1965 and private corporations to measure the impact of downsizing policies on employees and their families.

She authored 10 books, including “Human Services in the City of Angels: 18502000” which earned her the Wheat Award from the Southern California Historical Society, 2004. Feldman was a founder of the California Social Welfare Archives at USC, an organization dedicated to preserving the history of social work in California, and inducted into its Hall of Distinction in 2005.

Douglas Glasgow DSW’ 68

Douglas G. Glasgow is nationally recognized as an expert on welfare and underclass formation in urban cities and was a resident scholar for the 21st Century Commission on African American Males. He served as dean of the School of Social Work at Howard University from 1972 to 1975, and led the creation of the first comprehensive, accredited, graduate-level curriculum modeled from a Black perspective. He helped found and was co-chair of the Center for Study of AfroAmerican History and Culture at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Glasgow spent time as a visiting professor at the University of Ghana at Legon and Makererre University in Uganda. During his time in Africa, Glasgow was a policy analyst and consultant on social development for the Ministry of Social Welfare in Ghana and the Ministry of Rehabilitation in Ethiopia. He traveled extensively in China to study their systems of education, juvenile care and health services, paying particular attention to the processes of social rehabilitation.

He served as vice president of the National Urban League, delivering testimony at congressional hearings, developing regulatory comment, and helping to formulate and debate national policy issues before the public. He helped found multiple community-based and national organizations, including the National Association of Black Social Workers and the United Black Fund of United Way. In Washington D.C., he served as a member of the Mental Health Reorganization Commission, and the Teen Pregnancy Commission. Glasgow published the groundbreaking work, “The Black Underclass,” on the etiology of Blacks’ entrapment in poverty, and was actively involved in Early Action Response (EAR) to Urban Needs providing research services, information and advocacy for vulnerable communities.

Bernice Harper MSW ‘48

Bernice Catherine Harper greatly influenced health care policy and the development of hospice services in the United States and overseas. She was instrumental in creating long-term health care programs for continuity-of-care, including community, institutional and psychosocial components. As chief social worker at City of Hope Medical Center in California, Harper’s work with leukemia patients and their families inspired her to improve services available to those with chronic and long-term illness. She developed one of the nation’s first oncology social work programs, and in 1970 was elected president of the American Society of Hospital Social Work Directors.

Her book, “Death: The Coping Mechanism of the Health Professional,” is widely considered the definitive work on the needs of health care workers in coping with their job-related stress, and advanced thinking when published in 1977. Harper identified specific stages of coping relevant to those in the health care field as they go through the end of life process with patients and clients. It earned her a Better Life Award from the American Health Care Association.

For more than 30 years, Harper was a Medicare and Medicaid advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and a major accomplishment was the addition of hospice benefits into Medicare coverage. In the 1990s Harper launched a hospice foundation in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for AIDS patients. This became Global Partners in Care with nearly 100 hospices in 15 countries throughout Africa today.

Harper’s honors include induction into the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers, and the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Nancy A. Humphreys founded the Institute for the Advancement of Political Social Work Practice (IAPSWP) at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her vision included two goals: increase the number of social workers who hold elected office, and explore ways for direct service workers to help clients increase their political power. Humphreys believed that social workers should seek elected political office and that political social work practice should be a legitimate specialization in the profession, accomplished through education and training programs, research and service. IAPSWP has trained hundreds of social workers to become involved in campaign politics.

As dean of the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, Humphreys directed the policy practice concentration, and taught courses on political social work practice, macro foundation practice, social environment and women’s issues. She also served as dean of the Michigan State University School of Social Work, and associate dean at Rutgers University School of Social Work.

Humphreys was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to his National Advisory Committee on Women’s Issues, where she co-authored the human service chapter of the committee’s final report, Voices for Women. In New Jersey, she was appointed by the chief justice of the State Supreme Court as a public member of the court’s committee on professional legal ethics. In Michigan, she was appointed by the governor to a Blue Ribbon Committee on welfare reform and elected chair of the Michigan Department of Social Services Advisory Council.

She was only the second woman elected president of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) from 1979 to 1981, and received the NASW Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Nancy Humphreys MSW ’63

Shanti Khinduka

MSW ’61

Shanti Khinduka was the founding director of the Kothari Center for Environmental Research in Calcutta, India, and later served as dean of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis from 1974 to 2004. During his tenure at Brown he was instrumental in establishing several path-breaking centers for research and training, including the creation of 12 endowed professorships, construction of a new state-of-the-art facility, development of dual degree programs, transforming interdisciplinary and international research and building an endowment for the school of over 100 million dollars. He also fashioned a curriculum emphasizing evidence-based practice, economic and social development, and capacity building for individuals and communities.

Khinduka was a member of the board of directors for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and held a seat on the Commission on Accreditation and House of Delegates for CSWE. He has chaired and been a member of the Publications Committee and International Activities Committee for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

He has published worldwide on social action, social work education, community and social development, globalization, international social welfare and ethnic conflict, and written extensively on social work education, international social work, ethnic diversity and juvenile services. Khinduka founded the Journal of Social Service Research in 1977 and chaired its editorial board until 2004.

Among his many honors, Khinduka has received the Significant Lifetime Achievement Award from CSWE, the Outstanding Social Work Educator and Scholar Award from the Asian American Social Work Educators Association, and the President’s Award for Excellence in Education from NASW.

Maryann Mahaffey

MSW ’51

Maryann Mahaffey empowered social change in Detroit, Michigan as a social worker, educator, civil rights activist and political leader. She was devoted to women’s issues, racial injustice and the underrepresented, and a professor at Wayne State University School of Social Work for 25 years.

In 1973, Mahaffey was elected to the Detroit City Council and served for 32 years, including 12 years as its president. She brought her social work sensibilities to the council, pushing the city to create a rape crisis unit, regulate homeless shelters and apartment rentals, and expand health care benefits to LGBTQ+ couples. Honored in the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, she was involved in the precedent-setting lawsuit establishing a woman’s right to run for office using her birth name, opening the doors of the Detroit Athletic Club to women, and enacting an ordinance prohibiting sexual harassment of city employees.

Mahaffey was chair of the Michigan Social Work Council from 1965 to 1967, serving as its legislative lobbyist and creating a graduate internship program and a registration law for social workers. She served on the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, chaired the NASW National Public Relations Committee from 1972 to 1975, and represented the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) at the first U.N. Conference on the Status of Women in 1975.

She became the first woman elected president of NASW from 1975 to 1977. During her term, she expanded relations with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and IFSW, established the first task force on LGBTQ+ issues, instituted Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE), and held the first conference on social workers in politics in 1977.

Robert A. Mays Jr. PhD’85

Robert A. Mays, Jr. was a Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps. He studied and treated the effects of stress, trauma, substance use, family violence, natural disasters and incarceration. Mays used his training to influence policy on the delivery of mental health services during critical events and significant circumstances of organizational change.

He was deputy director of administration for the Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health and chief for the Office of Rural Mental Health Research, both for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Mays served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council at NIMH, conducting second level review of research grant applications, and prepared numerous reports addressing research education, training and the translation of mental health research into practice.

Mays was department chief at Landsthul Army Regional Medical Center, Germany and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C., and also served as director of the Behavioral Science Division at Walter Reed. While on continuous active duty as a behavioral science officer, he practiced as a licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, board certified diplomate in clinical social work, researcher and academician on assignments in Vietnam, Panama, Germany and Thailand.

His experience as a mental health first responder in combat, police operations and correctional settings led to an appointment by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve as a civilian medical expert in mental health to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Mays was a member of the Federal Interagency Health Equity Team where he served as co-chair of the leadership subcommittee of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities.

Royal Morales

MSW ’56

Royal Morales, fondly known as “Uncle Roy,” was a premier social worker who made inestimable contributions to the Filipino and Asian Pacific Islander communities in Los Angeles and throughout California, and to social work nationally.

Morales was a social worker, community organizer and fierce activist of human and social services issues, particularly around at-risk youth, substance use, mental health and equality issues for Filipino Americans and Asian Pacific Islanders. He was the program director for the Pacific Asian Alcohol Program (PAAP), under the auspices of Special Service for Groups (SSG) of Los Angeles, and served as director of the Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center of Los Angeles. In 1972, Morales founded the nonprofit Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) to enhance the quality of life for Filipino Americans throughout Los Angeles County.

He was a popular faculty member of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1983 to 1996, and in his lively classes Morales told stories, played music, led discussions on historical analysis and conducted his own Saturday field trips to Los Angeles’ Filipino Town. The tour typically started at the Filipino Christian Church, which his father helped establish, went on to the Filipino American Reading Room and Library and then proceeded downtown to Bunker Hill, where the local Filipino community flourished in the 1920s and 1930s.

He was nationally recognized for his lectures on the Filipino American experience, Philippine-U.S. relations and history, alcohol-related issues, organizing communities and program development for human services.

George Nickel

MSW ’32

George D. Nickel enhanced public welfare services for communities and populations most in need throughout California, developing innovative projects to relieve economic stress on individuals and providing social benefits to the larger community as populations increased due to the Dust Bowl crisis in the Midwest. He was particularly active during the years of the Great Depression and World War II, serving impoverished California communities and helping displaced children after the war. Nickel was instrumental in the passage California’s social work licensing legislation, the first in the United States.

Nickel was particularly involved in the improvement of foster home placements and childcare centers. His early career work was with unemployed homeless single men and couples entering Rancho Los Amigos in Los Angeles County, a place for those who found themselves in need as a result of the Great Depression. In 1932, he became director of the Kern County Welfare Program after it received funding through the Emergency Relief and Construction Act. In 1938, he accepted the position of public relations director of the western area for the California State Relief Administration, addressing sharply-rising interest rates by persuading the legislature to place a lower ceiling on the interest that could be charged. Nickel lobbied for the California social work licensing bill and helped establish consumer credit counseling services in San Diego and Los Angeles.

He was the primary founder of the California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA)at the University of Southern California in 1978, and served as its president until 1989. Two awards were established by the CSWA in his honor: the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Professional Service, and the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Welfare.

Juan Ramos

MSW ’60

Juan Ramos is a leader in mental health research, with an outstanding career as a practicing social worker as well as a scholar, working with leadership in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to advance the priorities of the profession.

Ramos spent 35 years at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Washington, D.C., and was part of the senior executive service. His main efforts were in the development of social work research pertinent to mental health and mental illness, development of research and research training initiatives, and facilitating clinical and research training and mental health services pertinent to minority populations, with an emphasis on promoting the establishment of local, state and national organizations to address mental health issues. Ramos facilitated the organization and development of multiple international epidemiological studies on the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders, and physical and mental disabilities, particularly in Spanish speaking countries.

He was a faculty member for 11 years at the School of Social Work, University of Maryland, teaching mental health policy. He has been a long-standing advocate for the implementation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ramos played an influential role in the Social Work Research Initiative, an effort initiated by the NASW to secure fiscal support from NIMH for social work research at five universities. His significant dedication to and knowledge of social work scholarship was vital in moving the initiative forward and ensuring the landmark project was successfully achieved. The result was the creation of a central organization to advance social work research nationally.

W. June Simmons

MSW ’70

W. June Simmons is a visionary practitioner and administrator in social work practice, including mental health, hospice and palliative care with a focus on gerontology. She is nationally recognized for her innovative leadership, crafting services of demonstrably high quality and affordability. She has astutely linked social work’s role and skills to improve health outcomes with opportunities presented through federal initiatives, including the Affordable Care Act.

As president and chief executive officer of the Visiting Nurses Association, Simmons took a financially troubled organization and founded Partners in Care Foundation (PICF) in 1997. It is recognized as a model evidence-based, cost-effective program, providing care and prevention education to communities at risk, older populations and clients facing end of life issues. Simmons’ development of PICF addressed the changing reality of where and how consumers address their health care needs. She integrated PICF’s work with community organizations and public and private funders, an approach that has since been replicated across the country.

Simmons was the first MSW at Huntington Memorial Hospital in 1972, and expanded the social work department into a multi-faceted and highly-respected social work service. She created innovative programs such as a senior care center, a child abuse and trauma center, a sexual assault center and a court guardianship assessment center.

Her many prestigious honors include the Ida M. Cannon Award and the Eleanor Clark Award for Innovative Programs in Patient Care from the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care (SSWLHC), 1988; a Trailblazers in Aging Award for distinguished service from the National Council on Aging, 2011; and the James A. Vohs Award for Quality from the Kaiser Permanente Foundation, 2005.

Faustina Solís

MSW ’54

Faustina Solís was an educator and pioneer in public health. She served as deputy director for the Public Health Division of the California State Department of Health where she advocated for education, day care, housing and health care programs for migrant workers in the Imperial Valley. She was subsequently appointed director of the Farm Workers’ Health Service Program for California, collaborating with labor leader Cesar Chavez.

In 1975, she was elected president of the California Association for Maternal and Child Health, the first non-physician to lead the organization. She was directly involved in the establishment and operation of community health programs for Latinos in San Ysidro and San Diego Counties, and held consultation appointments in Mexico, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Due to her extensive background in public health, Solís was the first full professor in the School of Medicine at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) without a medical degree or doctorate. She introduced ethnic content into the medical school curriculum and established public health coursework for undergraduates and medical students based on her experience as a social worker developing health care services for California’s migrant farm workers.

She was appointed as the second provost of the Thurgood Marshall College at UCSD from 1981 to 1988, and the university’s first Latina provost. During her tenure, Solís promoted mentoring programs aimed to engage new students, particularly those from minority backgrounds. She helped solidify a mission of developing students as scholars and citizens who value social responsibility and academic excellence, and encouraged students to participate in community outreach efforts in local neighborhoods. She was inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction in 2005.

Barbara Solomon

DSW ‘66

Barbara Bryant Solomon was a practicing social worker and academic for more than 50 years, primarily focused on social service delivery systems for underrepresented minority families. In practice, she worked in adoptions at the California State Department of Social Welfare, and as a clinical social worker in Alameda County medical institutions in Los Angeles, California and Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals in Houston, Texas.

Solomon was a prominent and influential social work professor at the University of Southern California (USC), teaching courses in human behavior and the social environment, research methods, social service delivery systems in health and mental health settings, and family empowerment and preservation in ethnic minority communities. Her landmark book, “Black Empowerment: Social Work in Oppressed Communities,” published in 1976, introduced the concept of empowerment as a framework for social work practice. Her ideas on how to increase the minority student population at USC led to the formation of the Neighborhood Academic Initiative, a widely-praised program preparing local secondary school students for higher education.

Solomon was the first African American to hold a deanship at USC when she became dean of the Graduate School. She went on to be named vice provost for graduate and professional studies, vice provost for minority affairs and vice provost for faculty affairs.

Her countless honors include the Faculty Who Make a Difference Award from the American Association of Higher Education, the Rosa Parks Freedom Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Presidential Medallion and Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award from USC, and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Walden University.

Judy D. Webber

MSW ‘93

Judy Webber, the longest serving child welfare director for the State of California, transformed the role of social workers within the child welfare system. Under her leadership, social workers became champions of family support, child well-being and community health, rather than simply mandated reporters of abuse and neglect or over-surveyors of poor families. Webber is celebrated for her unwavering commitment to promoting a child, youth and family wellness system that fosters collaboration for families to thrive.

Webber raised awareness around the traumatic consequences of separating children from their families and the historic role of child welfare in perpetuating inequalities, particularly for children of color. Her career has been defined by her proactive approach to addressing the root causes of child welfare involvement and promoting nurturing family environments.

She is one of the first child welfare directors to use data and geo-mapping to identify geographic regions that have a disproportionate representation of Latinx families in the child welfare system. This data-sharing was the catalyst for multiple unprecedented cross-system initiatives, including an expansion of the Healthy Start program to place social workers in local schools. She created a comprehensive approach that engaged all health and human service systems, ensuring wide-ranging and expedited access to for parents whose children were placed in the child welfare system.

Webber has been honored throughout her career, including the Ventura County Management Council Mentoring Award, 2006; Court Appointed Special Advocates Honoree, 2016; Ventura County Latino Leadership Award Honoree, 2019; and California Welfare Director’s Association Executive Leadership Award, 2023.

Marleen Wong

MSW ‘71

Marleen Wong has been called the “architect of school-safety programs” by the Wall Street Journal. Thousands of children and families have benefited from her dedication, commitment and passion for disaster recovery, trauma and mental health. Wong is often the first expert contacted by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies when there is a school shooting or national disaster.

She served as director of the school mental health unit for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and was instrumental in implementing two evidencedbased interventions, developed in collaboration with RAND and UCLA, used by over 800 LAUSD psychiatric social workers: The Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools and Psychological First Aid: Learn, Listen, Protect, Connect.

Wong translated her scientific research with RAND and UCLA into practice that not only helped clinicians, parents and teachers but also many students who were exposed to trauma and unable to access trauma-informed mental health services. As senior vice dean for social work practicum education at USC, she pioneered the incorporation of trauma-informed practices into the curriculum so that MSW students received additional training to help children and families in crisis.

Internationally recognized for her expertise, Wong has developed mental health recovery programs and crisis disaster training for school districts and law enforcement in the United States, Canada, Israel and Asia. She contributes her social work perspective on numerous local, state and national committees, including the National Advisory Council on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Institute of Medicine Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, American Academy of Pediatrics National Expert Panel, and the Blue Ribbon Panel on School Safety for Los Angeles County.

Josephine Yelder

MSW ’53, DSW ‘75

Josephine Jordan Yelder is a trailblazer who helped to remove the academic racial barriers at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles by becoming a professor of sociology in 1963, serving as a role model for students from around the globe. In recognition of her extraordinary administrative acumen, she was appointed chair of the Sociology Division with responsibility for administering graduate and undergraduate programs in Human Services. She was among the first African Americans to become tenured faculty at Pepperdine.

She served as a supervisor for the California State Department for Social Welfare and assistant training director for the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services, where she was recognized as an outstanding clinician and diagnostician in meeting the needs of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans and other diverse population groups and clients.

As a scholar, Yelder produced the groundbreaking study, “Generational Relationships In Black Families: Some Perceptions of Grandparent Role,” which was a defining moment in her career and catapulted her into significant work related to underrepresented aging populations covering income maintenance, health, mental health and housing.

Yelder was a member of the Los Angeles delegation to the White House Conference on Aging, board member of the Alzheimer’s Association, and member of the Black Partnership Council of the United Way. She has been honored with an Outstanding Social Work Educator Award from the National Association of Black Social Workers, the Fortitude in the Field of Aging Award from Delta Sigma Theta, and Outstanding Women in Social Work Education Award from Zeta Phi Beta.

“I am very proud of my social work education from USC. It prepared me for the challenges of the field, and taught me how to professionally understand, serve and advocate for my clients on both the micro and macro levels. The ability to move freely between the two is critical to effectively create change and advance the profession.”

- Suzanne Dworak-Peck

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