Four respected members of the social work profession were this year’s inductees into the Columbia University School of Social Work Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Arlene Goldsmith, Ph.D., Dr. Tony Tripodi, DSW, and Nancy Wackstein, MSW were honored at an induction ceremony held Friday, April 17th.   

Melvin Herman, DSW, was recognized posthumously as a Pioneer Inductee.  His son, Dan Herman, and other members of  the Herman family were there to accept the award.

The Hall of Fame honors distinguished Columbia University School of Social Work alumni/ae who have made outstanding contributions to the theory and/or practice of social work and who, by their example, have added distinction to the social work profession. Nominees must have graduated from a CUSSW degree program at least 15 years prior to the year of nomination. Graduates from all fields of practice will receive full consideration in the nomination process. All nominations will be confidential.

Dr. Arlene Goldsmith has served as the Executive Director of New Alternatives for Children (NAC) since its inception in 1982. Before joining NAC, Goldsmith held numerous diversified social work positions, having spent 25 years as a practitioner in the field of human services. She is recognized as an expert in child welfare policy, and is the author of Those Children, a case study and evaluation of seven children, that offers teachers and other human service professionals guidance and principles for working with inner-city children. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University School of Social Work and a Doctor of Social Work from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, with a specialization in Child Welfare. Her dissertation, Special Foster Families for Special Needs Children, was awarded the 1992 Rev. Doctor Nicholas J. Langenfeld Award.

Goldsmith was named a Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader in 1994. In January 1998, Arlene Goldsmith received a prestigious Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, presented in honor of outstanding service on behalf of children and youth. The Robin Hood Foundation named Dr. Goldsmith as the recipient of their Hero’s Award in December 1998.

Nancy Wackstein was named Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH) in the fall of 2002.  Prior to her UNH appointment, she was the Executive Director of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a settlement house on Manhattan’s East Side, for eleven years.  

Wackstein served as Director of the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness and SRO Housing from 1990-1991 under Mayor David N. Dinkins.  She was Senior Policy Advisor for Human Services in Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins’ Office from 1986-1989, where she was also Staff Director for the Task Force on Housing for Homeless Families.

Wackstein received a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Binghamton where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations, and chairs the Board of the Human Services Council of NYC.  She was appointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2003 to the New York City Youth Board and to the Citywide Coordinating Committee to End Chronic Homelessness, and in 2006 to the New York City Commission for Economic Opportunity.  In 1988, Wackstein received a Samuel and May Rudin Community Service Award for exceptional service to the homeless, in 1991 the recognition award from the Settlement Housing Fund for her efforts to end homelessness, and in 2003 the annual award from The Council on Homeless Policies and Services.

Dr. Tony Tripodi, former Dean and Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University, has had a long and distinguished career in academic administration, teaching, and research. Dr. Tripodi has taught research methods to M.S.W. and Ph.D. Students at a number of outstanding schools of social work: Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, Florida International University, and Ohio State University. He served as head of doctoral committees at the University of Michigan and at Florida International University; Associate Dean at University of Michigan and University of Pittsburgh; and as Dean, Ohio State University, 1992 to 2002.

He received A.B. and M.S.W. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, 1954 and 1958; and was awarded the D. S.W. degree from CUSSW in 1963.

Dr. Melvin Herman was founding director of Columbia University’s Community Services and an administrator and teacher of social services in New York City for more than 40 years.

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