Larry Davis

The late Larry E. Davis was a faculty associate with the Center for Social Development until his passing in 2021. Former dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, Davis was a pioneer in social work and at Washington University. He was the first African American awarded tenure at Washington University, the first African American to take a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan’s dual-degree program in social work and psychology, the founder of the journal Race and Social Problems, the founding director of the Center on Race and Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh, a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, a co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Work, the author of numerous works, and a leading expert on race in the United States.