PIONEERING CONTRIBUTIONS
Santos Hernández, PhD, MSW, is Emeritus Dean and Emeritus Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). He has been a social worker and social work educator for more than 45 years. With his career spanning academic appointments with nine universities, two deanships, two lifetime achievement awards, leadership of social work professional organizations, and countless accolades and numerous firsts, Hernández has been an impressive contributor to the field of social work.
As a Ford Foundation Leadership Development Fellow, Dr. Hernández worked with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in D.C., where he helped to organize support for the expansion of the Voting Rights Act to protect language minorities from voting discrimination. He then worked with the Colorado Association for Bilingual Bicultural Education (CABBE) on a successful campaign to mandate bilingual education in public schools. Colorado was among the first U.S. states to implement this.
Throughout his career, Hernández often was among the first Mexican Americans hired in institutions where he worked. During his time as dean at two different institutions, he was the highest ranking Hispanic academic administrator. As one of few Mexican American or Latinx deans in social work, he frequently provided mentoring to aspiring Latinx educators, students and social workers who expressed pride in his impactful positions.
As dean at UTA, Hernández strengthened the school’s distance education offerings. He spearheaded the continued development of a dual-degree PhD program with the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico, the only bi-national, dual-degree PhD program in Social Work, granting degrees from both institutions. It was recognized by SACS as a model program.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Hernández is particularly proud of the endowment of the Carolyn C. and Santos H. Hernández Scholarship at UTA and of the establishment of the Santos H. and Carolyn C. Hernandez Scholarship for social work and education students at Our Lady of the Lake University.
Hernández started his social work career as a hospital attendant supervisor at the San Antonio State Hospital. Hernández next worked in public assistance and school social work before ultimately becoming an educator. He held appointments at nine universities and served as dean of the Our Lady of the Lake University Worden School of Social Service (1991–1998) and the UTA’s School of Social Work (1998–2008). His teaching and scholarship focused on cross-cultural and generalist social work practice, and mental health.
His career included 17 years of academic administrative experience as dean. In 2011, he retired from UTA where he served as dean of the School of Social Work from 1998-2008. Prior to joining UTA, he was dean of the Worden School of Social Service at Our Lady of the Lake University (1991-1998).
He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). He previously served on the faculties of California State University, Fresno, the University of Denver, Eastern Washington University and San Jose State University.
He has been involved in a broad cross section of community and professional activities. He was an active member of NASW and on the board of Council of Social Work Education (CSWE), and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Arlington, until his retirement. He was active in the Texas Chapter of NASW as well as the Association of Mexican American Social Workers (AMAS) in San Antonio. He is past president of the Association of Latino Social Work Educators and Past Chair of the Texas Association of Social Work Deans and Directors.
Hernández served on several boards: the Board of Directors for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Arlington, the Board of Directors of Family Services, Inc. of Fort Worth, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee for United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County, and as Chair of the Arlington 2000 Task Force for Arlington Human Service Planners. He also served on the Board of Directors for SafeHaven Women's Shelter of Tarrant County and the Community Services Division Cabinet of the United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County. He served on the Mental Health Planning Advisory Council for the Texas Department of Mental Health Mental Retardation (TMHMR), the Advisory Board of San Antonio Unit of The Casey Family Program, the Family Service Center for the San Antonio State Hospital, and was a member of the CSWE Commission on Minority Group Concerns for the Minority Fellowship Program.
BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Hernández grew up in Lytle, Texas, a small town near San Antonio. He was the second youngest of 12 children. His father died when he was just seven, and he and his siblings worked during their childhood to help support the family. While the older siblings quit school to work, the younger kids – including Hernández – worked the agricultural fields during the summer.
Hernández received his BA (1972) and MSW (1974) degrees from Our Lady of the Lake University of San Antonio. He received his PhD (1985) in Social Work from the University of Denver.
SIGNIFICANT RECOGNITION AND AWARDS
Hernández received lifetime achievement awards from the Association of Latina and Latino Social Worker Educators (2016) and the Alamo branch of the NASW Texas Chapter (2013). In 2021, He was recognized as a Notable Alumnus by the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, in commemoration of the school’s 90th Anniversary.
Additional recognitions and awards include: in 2011, being named Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Dean, University of Texas, Arlington; in 2006, receiving the Inicia el Trayecto (Initiate the Journey) Award, Multicultural Affairs, University of Texas, Arlington; and in 1989, receiving the Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Award, California State University, Fresno.
SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
Hernández published, taught, and conducted research in the areas of cross-cultural social work practice, mental health, and generalist social work practice. He co-authored a social work practice text The Integration of Social Work Practice (1995) and co-edited an international text La Familia en América Del Norte: Evolución, problemática and política (2002) as well as several articles and book chapters. He served on numerous social work editorial boards, including the Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work and the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors.
Hernández, S. H. (2006) “Becoming a Social Work Dean” in Nguyen, Tuyen D. Many Paths, One Purpose: Career Choices for Social Work and Human Services Majors. Lexington Books.
Hernández, S. H. (2008) “Mutual Aid Societies” Encyclopedia of Social Work, 20th edition, Terry Mizrahi and Larry E. Davis (editors). National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press.
Hernández, S. H. (2009) “"Domestic violence; It's everybody's business!" in Ahmed, M. B. (ed.) Domestic Violence: A Cross Cultural Perspective. Bloomington: Xlibris Book Publishing.
Hernández, S. H. and E. Dunbar (2006) “Social Work in Mexico” Social Work Education, Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis, LTD, Liverpool, UK.
Hernández, S. H. and P. Leung. (1990) "Developing a Social Work Curriculum on Information Technology" chapter in Computer Literacy in Human Services Education Reinoehl, R. L. and B. J. Mueller (eds.) New York: The Haworth Press.