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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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John Myron Rockmore* (1913-2002)

John Myron Rockmore had an outstanding career in which he developed psychiatric social work practice as a component of World War II and post-World War II mental health programs. Rockmore received his Bachelor's Degree from St. Johns University in 1936; his Master's Degree in Education from St. Lawrence University in 1937; and a diploma from the New York School of Social Work in 1939. He worked in the New York Department of Social Welfare from 1935-1940 and then in the Board of Education Bureau of Child Guidance from 1940-1941. With World War II he became the Chief of Military Psychiatric Social Work in the U.S. Army's first Mental Hygiene Unit. He was decorated with the Legion of Merit for his social work efforts.

After the war, he became a consultant to the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and was influential in determining policies for the expansion of military social work programs. He also became Chief Psychiatric Social Worker with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute (1946-1952) where he worked closely with Dr. Marion Kenworthy, a psychiatrist noted for her contribution to social work education. During this same period, 1946-1952, he was a consultant to the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry, which developed concepts of community psychiatry and interdisciplinary teamwork. From 1954-1977, he served as the first Director of Psychiatric Social Work for the Connecticut Department of Mental Hygiene.

Rockmore was the first social worker to Chair the Program Committee of the American OrthoPsychiatric Association. He also served on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers (AAPSW). As Chair of the AAPSW Research Study Committee, he had oversight of an National Institute of a Mental Health (NIMH) funded study of psychiatric social work practice. He was Chair of the NASW Council of Social Workers in Mental Health and Psychiatric Services in 1966. The author of numerous papers and chapters, he resided in Hartford, Connecticut, and continued his interest in professional organizations and developments in psychiatric social work practice.




Newly Inducted NASW Social Work Pioneer Hortense McClinton 2015

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2024