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NASW Pioneers Biography Index


The National Association of Social Workers Foundation is pleased to present the NASW Social Work Pioneers®. NASW Pioneers are social workers who have explored new territories and built outposts for human services on many frontiers. Some are well known, while others are less famous outside their immediate colleagues, and the region where they live and work. But each one has made an important contribution to the social work profession, and to social policies through service, teaching, writing, research, program development, administration, or legislation.

The NASW Pioneers have paved the way for thousands of other social workers to contribute to the betterment of the human condition; and they are are role models for future generations of social workers. The NASW Foundation has made every effort to provide accurate Pioneer biographies.  Please contact us at naswfoundation@socialworkers.org to provide missing information, or to correct inaccurate information. It is very important to us to correctly tell these important stories and preserve our history.  

Please note, an asterisk attached to a name reflects Pioneers who have passed away. All NASW Social Work Pioneers® Bios are Copyright © 2021 National Association of Social Workers Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

    
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Representative Edolphus Ed Towns
Edolphus "Ed" Towns (1934- )

Edolphus “Ed” Towns retired January 1, 2013, after serving 15 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served the 10th Congressional District of Brooklyn, New York. Representative Towns was a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he was ranking member of the Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management Subcommittee, and a member of the exclusive Energy and Commerce Committee where he sat on the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, the Health Subcommittee, and the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Through his committee appointments, he worked to enhance consumers’ privacy protections on the Internet and developed innovative initiatives to reduce asthma and bridge the digital divide. Congressman Towns also served as the Chair of the Congressional Social Work Caucus, a Congressional Member Organizations he founded in the 111th Congress to create a platform on the Hill for more than 600,000 social workers throughout the US who positively impact the lives of the elderly, the disadvantaged, children, veterans or other individuals in need of guidance and direction in their lives. 

Throughout his tenure in Congress, Congressman Towns introduced legislation in education, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, and the environment. He introduced legislation seeking the formation of a comprehensive immigration reform commission, the establishment of an office of men’s health, and legislation to authorize the use of clinical social workers to conduct evaluations to determine work-related emotional and mental illnesses. Congressman Towns was a lead sponsor of the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act and an outspoken advocate for social workers and the individuals, families and communities served by the profession. He has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University and a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina A & T State University.

NASW Social Work Pioneer - 2012




Newly Inducted NASW Social Work Pioneer Hortense McClinton 2015

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2024