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 research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

) 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 The University of Wisconsin System is a state public university system in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher-education systems in the country, enrolling more than 160,000 students each year and employing approx ...

, 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 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of ...

, 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, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

'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 university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, 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, ...

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 Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Colo ...

. As the director of the Indian Liaison Office at the Fitzsimons Medical Hospital in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...

, 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 the ...

in 1973 and the

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...

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 The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA, enacted November 8, 1978 and codified at Indian Child Welfare Act, (, )) is a United States Code, United States federal law that governs jurisdiction over the removal of Native Americans in the United ...

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

, 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 American writers 21st-century Native American people