Ronald Gene Lewis (December 3, 1941 – April 14, 2019) was the first American Indian to receive a PhD in the field of social work (which he received from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

) in 1974, was declared a NASW Social Work Pioneer, and has become known as the “Father of American Indian Social Work.” In addition, he was the first American Indian tenured in the University of Wisconsin System, first American Indian Full Professor in the field of Social Work, and first American Indian to hold the position of "Dean" in Canada. Born in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, Lewis had his first academic appointment in 1975 at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

's School of Social Work. From there Lewis was tenured at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, and at the

Saskatchewan Indian Federated College The First Nations University of Canada (abbreviated as FNUniv) is a post-secondary institution and federated college of the University of Regina, based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. FNUniv operates three campuses within the province, i ...

as Dean. Additionally, Lewis has guest lectured across the country at universities for 30 years. Beyond the academic world, Lewis was a psychiatric social worker who developed mental health programs for American Indians at the Tahlequah and Claremore Indian Hospitals in Oklahoma and later for the state of Oklahoma. As the director of the Indian Liaison Office at the Fitzsimons Medical Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, he worked with returning American Indian Vietnam veterans. Lewis also trained hospital and medical personnel about culturally appropriate services for American Indians. Always a political activist, during this time Lewis was also at the

Wounded Knee Incident The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied ...

in 1973 and the Alcatraz takeover. Landmark legislation concerning culturally appropriate services for American Indian people is an important part Lewis’s work. Well known as a leading expert on American Indian social problems, he has published extensively on federal policy in Indian Country, child abuse and neglect, and alcoholism and the American Indian (which became a special report to the U.S. Congress in 1980). He and his work also contributed to the creation of the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978. Lewis has made contributions to American Indian issues at every level, including meetings with U.S. presidents, reports to Congress, and creating curriculum at universities. Lewis died from cancer in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

, on April 14, 2019, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ronald G. 1941 births 2019 deaths People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma Native American writers Native American activists American social workers University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Denver alumni 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans