California Social Work Hall of Distinction

The California Social Work Hall of Distinction was established in 2002 to honor those involved in bringing about the betterment of society and to ensure that the contributions of social work leaders, innovators and pioneers would be recognized and preserved for the future.

The Hall of Distinction is located in the Montgomery Ross Fisher building on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, and is maintained by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

The California Social Work Hall of Distinction was established by the California Social Welfare Archives, a non-profit organization formed in 1979 to collect materials that chronicle the history and diversity of social welfare in California, with an emphasis on Southern California. Initiated by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the Archives is creating access points to its historical database at social work schools and key social service agencies throughout the State of California.

Through 2016, there have been 99 honorees inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction, including Dana W. Bartlett, Emory Bogardus, Barbara Lee, Biddy Mason, Dorothy Lonewolf Miller, Virginia Satir, Judith Wallerstein, and Mariko Yamada. A biography of each honoree is available on the California Social Work Hall of Distinction website.