NASW Foundation National Programs

NASW Social Work Pioneers^®

Bertram M. Beck( - 2000)

Bertram Beck received a Masters in Art in Social Work in 1942 from the University of Chicago.

He worked as a psychiatric social worker for the United States Air Force from 1942-1946. He held a number of positions during his outstanding social work career. He worked for the Community Service Society of New York as a family caseworker, public relations associate; and associate director of the Bureau of Public Affairs. He was director of the Special Juvenile Delinquency Project of the United States Children’s Bureau; a lecturer at Smith College, School of Social Work; executive director of Mobilization for Youth, Inc.; and executive director of the Henry Street Settlement Urban Life Center.

Elected to the original board of NASW, he resigned this office to become its first Deputy Director of the Association, a position that he held until the early 1960s. He continued to be active in various association endeavors.

Mr. Beck was a consultant for the Foundation for Child Development; the Senate Committee on Juvenile Delinquency; the White House Conference on Children & Youth; the Office of Economic Opportunity; and the Ford Foundation.

Over the years, Mr. Beck was active in community services. Such areas were: Vice President, Board of Directors, Citizens’ Committee for Children; Vice President, American Parents’ Committee, Inc.; Member, Demonstration Project Panel; President’s Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Development; Co-Chairman, Inner City Task Force, Department of Health, Education and Welfare Youth Development Administration; Member, Board of Directors, National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers; and Member, Advisory Council to the New York State Commission of Welfare.

He was awarded the Parents’ Magazine Medal for Services to Children in 1954.

He was the author of two books and numerous articles in books and journals, including Encyclopedia Britannica, Social Work Book, Saturday Review, Commonweal, Parents’ Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Social Work, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Sociology.