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.