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Specific Pioneering Contributions
Maurice C. Daniels, EdD, MSW, is dean emeritus and professor emeritus of the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia (UGA), and co-founder and director of The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies. Daniels was the first African American dean of the UGA School of Social Work and the second African American dean in the more than 200-year history of UGA.
As dean of the School of Social Work, Daniels advanced interdisciplinary scholarship and social justice through the development of new degrees, endowed professorships, and a research center. During his tenure, the school created dual social work degrees in law, public health, and divinity, each one a first for the state of Georgia. He led in the creation of two endowed professorships: the Donald L. Hollowell Distinguished Professorship of Social Justice and Civil Rights Studies—the university’s inaugural distinguished professorship named for an African American—and the Georgia Athletic Association Professorship in Health and Well-Being. In addition, Daniels ushered in the creation of the interdisciplinary Center for Social Justice, Human and Civil Rights and provided leadership in the appointment of a nationally and internationally competitive faculty.
Daniels is the author of Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights; Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State; and Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights Advocacy, and Jurisprudence. He also authored the foreword for Mary Frances Early’s autobiography, The Quiet Trailblazer: My Journey as the First Black Graduate of the University of Georgia. Daniels is executive producer and senior researcher for five public television documentaries, including Donald L. Hollowell: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice, Hamilton Earl Holmes: The Legacy Continues, and Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer.
Daniels’s research and scholarship on social justice activists Mary Frances Early, Donald L. Hollowell, and Horace T. Ward played a significant role in their belated recognition by the University of Georgia and the University System of Georgia Board of Regents (BOR). UGA has awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees to Early, Hollowell, and Ward, and the BOR approved the naming of the UGA College of Education in Early’s honor and a distinguished professorship in Hollowell’s honor. Additionally, in 2022, following the publication of Daniels’s Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State, the BOR approved the awarding of honorary degrees to Myra Elliott, Barbara Hunt,* and Iris Mae Welch,* the key activists and plaintiffs in the struggle to desegregate Georgia State. *[awarded posthumously.]
Daniels is co-founder and former board chairman of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity; co-founder and former president of the UGA Black Faculty and Staff Organization; an inaugural member of the Children’s Trust Fund of Georgia Board of Directors; charter president of the Athens Branch of Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); former board chairman of the Athens Area Opportunities Industrialization Center; and charter president of the Zeta Beta Beta Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He played a key role in establishing the UGA Institute for African American Studies, UGA Office of Minority Services and Programs, and UGA Office of Institutional Diversity. He is a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), ASALH, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Daniels is also one of the first two African Americans to serve on the Georgia Athletic Association Board of Directors and presently serves as an emeritus board member. He currently serves as a board member of the Athens Community Foundation and as a board member and chairman of the Affordable Housing Committee for the East Athens Development Corporation.
Career Highlights
Throughout his four-decade social work career, Daniels has focused on issues of social justice and civil and human rights and integrated these central themes into social work education and the profession. He has garnered a strong reputation for advocating for social justice, equity, and inclusion; challenging systemic barriers; and working tirelessly to empower marginalized communities. Daniels has demonstrated remarkable leadership, serving as a role model and mentor to countless social workers and academic leaders, faculty, students, alumni and community members; and developing scholarships and opportunities for needful students.
In addition to his books, Daniels is the author of scholarly articles and national conference papers focused on social justice and civil rights and served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on major extramural grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health. A hallmark of his 11-year tenure as Dean of the UGA School of Social Work was his elevation of the school’s stature, visibility, and impact not only within the university and the local community but also across the state and nation.
Biographic Data
Daniels’s social work practice experience includes service as a tutor-counselor and assistant director for Indiana University’s Project Upward Bound; a social worker at the Indianapolis Sickle Cell Center; and a school social worker for the Indianapolis Public Schools. Prior to becoming Dean of the UGA School of Social Work, Daniels served as the school’s associate dean, director of its Master of Social Work degree program, and director of the UGA Patricia Roberts Harris Graduate Fellowship Program. Daniels holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in social work, and a doctoral degree in higher education from Indiana University.
Daniels’s most important contribution is the co-parenting of four daughters: a Spanish teacher/interpreter, a physician, a lawyer, and a corporate professional. Daniels is married to Renee Singleton Daniels.
Significant Achievements and Awards
Honored repeatedly by professional and community-based organizations for his research, teaching, and service, Daniels is the recipient of the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) Award for Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of Archives for his book on Donald L. Hollowell. In book reviews published in the Journal of American History and The American Historical Review, reviewers described Daniels’s book on Hollowell as “A well-researched account that explores much-neglected aspects of the civil rights movement” and “one of the best biographies of the civil rights era.”
Daniels is also the recipient of the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) Distinguished Social Work Practice Award, NASW Georgia Chapter’s David L. Levine Excellence in Education and Ethics Award, Athens Economic Justice Coalition’s Ray McNair Economic Justice Award, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society’s Love of Learning Award, Indiana University School of Education’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Athens Area Habitat for Humanity’s Outstanding Service Award, 22nd Annual Emancipation Proclamation Pioneer Award, and Athens-Clarke County Branch of the NAACP’s Freedom Fund Award. In 2004, the 113th General Assembly of the Indiana House of Representatives honored Daniels with House Resolution No. 74, which recognized his “accomplishments in the areas of civil and human rights and social justice.”
Daniels is also the recipient of numerous awards bestowed by his colleagues at the University of Georgia, including the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award, the Institute for African American Studies’ Founders Award, the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Senior Teaching Fellowship, the School of Social Work’s Outstanding Research Award, and five Outstanding Achievement Awards from the Black Faculty and Staff Organization.
Significant Publications
- Daniels, Maurice C. Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2019.
- Daniels, Maurice C. Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights. 2013. Reprint. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2016.
- Daniels, Maurice C. Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2013.
- Daniels, Maurice C. Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights, and Jurisprudence. Reprint. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 2004.
- Daniels, Maurice C. Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights, and Jurisprudence, Atlanta: Clark Atlanta University Press, 2001.
- Daniels, Maurice C., and Cameron Van Patterson. “(Re)considering Race in the Desegregation of Higher Education.” Georgia Law Review 46, (Spring 2012): 521-556.
- Katz, Carole, Maurice Daniels, Bruce A. Thyer, and Tracey D. Ford. “A University Evaluation of the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship Program for Traditionally Under-Represented Graduate Students.” American Journal of Social and Management Sciences 2, no. 1 (2011): 108-115.
- Alridge, Derrick, and Maurice Daniels. “Black Violence and Crime in the 21st Century: A Socio-Historical Structural Analysis.” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 4, (2001): 27-43.
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