Edith Abbott (1876–1957) was a social worker and educator. She was Dean of the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago from 1924 to 1942 and she helped in drafting the Social Security Act of 1935.
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Jean K. Quam
Grace Abbott (1878–1939) was a teacher who went on to become Director of the Immigrants Protective League of Chicago and Director of the U.S. Children's Bureau. In 1934 she became professor of public welfare at the University of Chicago.
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Lou M. Beasley
Ralph David Abernathy (1926–1990) was a pastor who became president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference after the assassination of Martin Luther King. He was director of personnel, dean of men, and professor of social studies at Alabama State University.
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Lou M. Beasley
Frankie Victoria Adams (1902–1979) was a social worker who influenced the development of social work education and of professional social work in the American South. She developed the Group Work and Community Organization concentrations at Atlanta University.
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Jean K. Quam
Jane Addams (1860–1935) was a settlement house leader and peace activist. She was the founder of Hull-House and became president of the National Conference of Charities and Correction. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
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Paul A. Abels
Chauncey A. Alexander (1916–2005) was Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers from 1967 to 1982 and founder and president of the First Amendment Foundation. He was instrumental in developing an International Code of Ethics for social workers.
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Rosalie Blair
Litsa Alexandraki (1918–1986) was best known for her work in Greece on matters of child welfare, and the protection of refugees and migrants. She was also elected for three terms as President of the International Federation of Social Workers, a position she held from 1962–1968.
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Jean K. Quam
Arthur J. Altmeyer (1891–1972) was an administrator in Washington, DC from 1934 to 1953. He was a leader of social welfare policy and helped design and implement the Social Security Act of 1935.
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Kenneth S. Carpenter
Delwin M. Anderson (1916–2007) was director of the Social Work Service in the Veteran's Administration from 1964 to 1974. In his work he laid stress on recognizing the social components of illness and physical injury.
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Gwendolyn D. Perry-Burney
Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (1933–2009) was best known as the first female president of the Philippines. She challenged the Marcos regime after her husband’s assassination in 1983, and she won the presidency in 1986.
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Sadye L. M. Logan
David M. Austin (1923–2008), who served as Bert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work (now University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work), has left an outstanding legacy in the students and colleagues whom he has mentored and inspired. He was a tireless leader, practical researcher, and brilliant scholar in the field of social work.
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Sadye L. M. Logan
Ella Josephine Baker (1903–1986) was a consummate organizer and activist who played an active role in shaping the civil and human rights movements in the United States of America from 1930 through the 1980s.
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Paul H. Stuart
Roger Nash Baldwin (1884–1981) was a social worker and progressive reformer. In 1914 he co-authored the first juvenile justice textbook. Jailed in 1918 for refusing to register for the draft, he went on to found the American Civil Liberties Union.
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Wilma Peebles-Wilkins
Janie Porter Barrett (1865–1948) was a noted African American child welfare reformer. In 1890, she founded the Locust Street Social Settlement, one of the first settlements for black people in the United States. She later established and became superintendent of Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls in 1915.
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Beatrice N. Saunders
Harriett M. Bartlett (1897–1987) was a social worker and theoretician who served as president of the American Association of Medical Social Workers from 1942 to 1944. She highlighted social functioning as a central focus of social work practice.
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Jean K. Quam
Clarissa (Clara) Harlowe Barton (1821–1912) was the founder of the American Red Cross and its president from 1881 to 1904. She introduced the “American Amendment,” ensuring that the Red Cross would provide relief in peacetime as well as in war.
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Sadye L. M. Logan
As chief executive director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Battle demonstrated a pioneering leadership that stimulated the organization and the social work profession to broader areas of social concerns. He was a social worker, educator, consultant, businessman, and former government official. Throughout his career, he blended expertise in management and labor issues with social work skills and knowledge.
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Paul H. Ephross
William D. Bechill (1928–2007) was a social worker who raised public and governmental consciousness about the needs of older Americans. He was responsible for the original design of the Medi–Cal legislation in California, which anticipated much of the Federal Medicare.
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Kenneth S. Carpenter
Bertram Beck (1918–2000) was a social worker who contributed to juvenile delinquency prevention and held many leadership positions in social work organizations. At Fordham University he was instrumental in creating the managed care institute and the religion and poverty institute.
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Jean K. Quam
Clifford Whittingham Beers (1876–1943) helped establish the American Foundation for Mental Hygiene and the International Foundation for Mental Hygiene. His work helped broaden knowledge of the causes, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.
