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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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Gisela Konopka Photo
Gisela Konopka* (1910-2003)

Gisela Konopka was widely recognized as a researcher, educator, and spokesman for "justice with compassion, justice at heart" especially for youth. Her work with emotionally troubled adolescents has indeed contributed to better understanding to both human development and ways of intervening in the life of troubled youth. Dr. Konopka was born in Berlin, Germany in 1910. She graduated from the University of Hamburg in 1933, and shortly after joined forces against the Nazis and was forced to spend a short time in a concentration camp.

After a period in Austria and France, she immigrated to the United States in 1941. She earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh; and, joined the faculty of the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota in 1947. She received her Doctorate in Social Work at Columbia University in 1957. She continued as Professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota from 1947 to 1978. In the late 1970s, Dr. Konopka also became Director of the Center for Youth Development and Research at the University of Minnesota. From 1978, she was Professor and Director Emeriti of the School of Social Work, an Adjunct Professor at the medical school, and a consultant and lecturer. She had written numerous books and literally hundreds of professional articles. Her works have been translated into at least 11 languages. She consulted, taught, and spoke throughout the world.

Dr. Konopka received the highest merit award of the Federal Republic of Germany for her work in rebuilding German social services after World War II. She was a recipient of Fulbright and Lilly endowment awards and was given the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award. She also received a Humanitarian Award by Minneapolis Community College. Throughout all of her teaching and research, Gisela Konopka emphasized the importance of love, compassion, understanding, and group relationships.

Her work concerning social groups and therapy received special recognition. She represented the practice of social work group work in many social work conferences and organizations. She served on the Board of Directors of NASW and the National Conference of Social Work, and was President of the Association of Orthopsychiatry. Her rewards and honors are numerous, but perhaps the greatest honor was to be known as humanitarian. May 24, 1990 was designated by the Governor of Minnesota as Gisela Konopka Day, which reflected the honor shown to her by her neighbors in Minnesota or more precisely, her neighbors throughout the world.