The SSW mourns the loss of Dr. Barbara Shore

The School of Social Work was deeply saddened to learn that Dr. Barbara Shore passed away on October 23, 2013 at the age of 92. Dr. Shore was a celebrated professor and her incredible dedication to the School and her legacy continues to positively impact the School’s doctoral students. Dr. Shore served as the doctoral program director from 1975 until 1978 and then resumed the directorship of the Doctoral Program in 1984 and continued in that capacity until 1992. During her tenure, the high level of program performance based on interdisciplinary training with a strong research emphasis continued. Dr. Shore strengthened the program’s community research involvement and international recruitment, and placed strong emphasis on recruitment of minority students from across the US. Required courses in policy analysis and research methodology were further enhanced. Annual student-faculty retreats facilitated communication and program self-study and renewal.Under Shore’s leadership, the emphasis on preparation for careers in social work education expanded.  This included her leadership in the creation of GADE (Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education), a national organization of doctoral programs to address common interests, including standard setting and assistance for the rapidly growing number of doctoral programs in social work during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Today there are 83 doctoral programs that are members of GADE. The Barbara K. Shore Doctoral Fund honors Dr. Shore’s incredible legacy. This special award allows the School of Social Work to recognize an outstanding doctoral student. You can read more about her life and work in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the University Times, her obituary, and in remarks given by Dr. Edward Sites at her memorial service.