News Archive
In Memoriam
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The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is deeply saddened by the loss of beloved dean emeritus and professor emeritus, Rino J. Patti. A double Trojan, receiving his Master of Social Work and Doctorate of Social Work from USC in 1960 and 1967, respectively, Patti passed away on September 16, 2021.
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More than half a century has passed since they first met as Master of Social Work (MSW) students at USC in the late 1950s, and Juan Ramos, MSW ’60, remembers the late Reverend Bernard Coughlin, MSW ’59, as a passionate, energetic person who was dedicated to helping the poor . Coughlin passed away in January 2020 at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.
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Carla J. Thornton, MSW ’12, DSW ’18, mother, veteran, social worker, advocate, passionate friend and the first Black woman elected District 2 City Councilwoman for the City of Moreno Valley, passed away on January 21 at the age of 42. A triple Trojan, she is mourned and celebrated by her USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work family.
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In his 100 years, Ted Lumpkin, Jr. experienced more than most, but considered his family to be his greatest achievement.
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At lunch at the iconic Pann’s coffee shop in Los Angeles a few years ago, Barbara Solomon remembers Millie Charles was just as passionate about the profession of social work as she had been when the two women first got to know one another in the 1980s. Retired and recovering from a stroke, Charles lit up that afternoon talking about old times as well as new honors, such as the new social work school building at the Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO) that would bear her name.
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The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is deeply saddened by the loss of a beloved professor, colleague, mentor, and friend. Professor Kathleen Ell was a social work practitioner and researcher who left an indelible mark on the profession, pushing the boundaries of mental health care.
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Ralph Fertig, prominent civil rights lawyer and USC clinical professor of social work, died on March 28 at his home in Westwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. He was 89.
Fertig was an influential social justice activist who dedicated his life to the fight for free speech and human rights in the United States and abroad as a federal administrative judge, civil rights attorney, social worker and sociologist. -
Festus Webley, MSW ’71, former director of staff development at the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services and longtime supporter of USC and the School of Social Work, died Feb. 29, a couple of weeks shy of his 90th birthday.
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Lenore “Lee” Stein-Wood, a long-standing member of the USC School of Social Work Board of Councilors, died Jan. 12 at her home in the Hollywood Hills. She was 78.
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Lillian Hawthorne, 88, died on Feb. 20, 2013, in Brooklyn, New York. Professor emerita and assistant dean for student affairs at the USC School of Social Work, Hawthorne, MSW '71, is credited with transforming the school’s field education program, the first to conceptualize field experience as pedagogy.