Kendall, Katherine A., 1910-2010

Katherine Kendall has been closely identified with major developments in social work education, both in the United States and on an international level, throughout the second half of the twentieth century. As Executive Secretary of the American Association of Schools of Social Work in 1951-1952, she played a major role in bringing the Association and its graduate school membership into the Council on Social Work Education.

Kendall became the first educational secretary of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), with responsibility for curriculum consultation and related educational services. She remained with the Council until 1971, serving as associate director, executive director, and director of international education. She also served as secretary of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). From 1966 to 1971, she moved entirely into international work, with shared responsibilities as director of international education for CSWE and secretary general of the IASSW. When IASSW established an independent secretariat in 1971, Kendall became its first full-time paid secretary-general. Although retired since1978, she has continued to give volunteer service to the Council as an honorary life member of the Board and to the IASSW as an honorary life president and member of the board.

Born Katherine Anne Tuach in Scotland on 9 September 1910, Kendall came to the United States in 1920 and became a naturalized citizen in 1940. She married Wilmoore Kendall in 1935; they divorced in 1950. She earned a BA degree in 1933 from the University of Illinois; an MA in Social Work in 1939 from Louisiana State University; and a PhD degree in Social Service Administration in 1950 from the University of Chicago.

During World War II, she worked for the American Red Cross as Assistant Director for Training, Home Service. From 1947 to 1950, she served as social affairs officer with the United Nations, where she produced Training for Social Work: An International Survey. Kendall then went to the U.S. Children's Bureau where she was assistant director of the Inter-American Unit and training supervisor for the International Service.

Kendall served on the faculties of the University of Chicago; the Richmond School of Social Work; the School of Social Work at Howard University; and as a Carnegie Visiting Professor at the University of Hawaii School of Social Work. She inaugurated the first Henry and Lucy Moses Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the School of Social Work, Hunter College. She was executive secretary of the Council of Advisors to Hunter College, its School of Social Work and the Lois and Samuel Silberman Fund. Her leadership in social work education has been widely recognized. CSWE presented her with the Distinguished Service Award, the Council's gold medal, and she was the first recipient of the Significant Lifetime Achievement Award. Kendall received numerous honorary doctorate degrees. A scholarship has been established in her name at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Kendall worked closely with the UN, UNICEF, and the Organization of American States. She has continued to serve as an official non-governmental representative for the IASSW at both the UN and UNICEF. In 1991, the IASSW established the Katherine A. Kendall Award for Distinguished Service in International Social Work Education. She has written more than 100 articles and books. Among her books are Reflections on social work education, 1950-1978 (1978); Social work education: its origins in Europe (2000); and Council on Social Work Education : its antecedents and first twenty years (2002).

Source: Adapted from NASW Social Work Pioneers website

From the guide to the Katherine A. Kendall papers, 1928-2006, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives [swha])