Peter Vaughan Receives Ruth Knee/Milton Wittman Lifetime Achievement Award

NASW Foundation Honors Vaughan for Service to Veterans, Older Adults and Students

WASHINGTON, DC— The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation is pleased to announce that Peter B. Vaughan, PhD, ACSW, has been awarded the Knee/Wittman Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding and tireless efforts in social work education, military social work, and social work with the aging.

The Knee/Wittman Awards recognize individuals who are models of excellence and have made significant contributions in the field of health and mental health. The Knee/Wittman Award Program was established in 1990 to recognize those who represent the values, ethics and approaches exemplified by two dedicated social work pioneers, Ruth Knee and Milton Wittman.  The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a professional social worker who has made exemplary contributions in health and mental health practice. 

Upon receiving his MSW from Wayne State University, Dr. Vaughan immediately entered the United States Army as a social worker having been commissioned at completion of his undergraduate degree.  During his two years of active duty he served one year at Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, CO, and another year in the Republic of Vietnam, first as a division social worker and then as Officer in Charge of the mental hygiene clinic in the U.S. Army Vietnam Stockade.

Upon completing his active duty assignment in the Army, Dr. Vaughan returned to Michigan.  He worked as the lead social worker in a geriatric unit at Pontiac State Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. He left Pontiac State Hospital to become the founding director of social work service at the Detroit Model Neighborhood Comprehensive Health Program, Inc., which later became Total Health Care, Inc.

In 1976 he joined the faculty of the School of Social Work at Wayne State University with a concurrent appointment as Chief of the Life Stress Center at what later became  the University Health Service/ Detroit Receiving Hospital where he was responsible for developing an autonomous social work service in a new ambulatory care teaching facility in Detroit’s inner city. He served on several boards of directors of social service organizations in Detroit, and was appointed to the first Detroit Commission on Aging by the Mayor of Detroit. He also was a member of the Detroit-Wayne County Area on Aging, and was appointed by Governor William Milliken to serve a term as commissioner on the State Commission on Aging.

Dr. Vaughan has served as dean of the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University since October 2000. Previously he was the Associate Dean for academic programs and Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work.

“Dr. Peter Vaughan has served our profession with extreme sensitivity, skill, and respect for professional values, organizational vision, and compassion for the vulnerable who are so often put aside or ignored in our society,” says Julia Watkins, outgoing executive director of the Council on Social Work Education in one letter of support. “He never hesitates to step forward and make a commitment to the work at hand.”

“Peter Vaughan has dedicated his life to serving others both in the military and out,” says Robert Arnold, director of the NASW Foundation. “The Social Work profession has been fortunate to have such a dedicated worker.”

It is with great honor that the NASW Foundation presents Dr. Vaughan with the Knee/Wittman Lifetime Achievement Award.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with nearly 145,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.

The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice.