Richard J. Estes Lecture Fund

Richard J. Estes is Professor of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He holds an A.B. degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia and graduate degrees in social work from the University of Pennsylvania (Master of Social Work) and the University of California at Berkeley (Doctor of Social Welfare). He also holds a post-master’s Certificate in Psychiatric Social Work from the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas.

His international activities have been extensive. Among other assignments, he has held visiting Professorships in Iran, Norway, and the People’s Republic of China, Morocco, South Korea, Hawaii, Japan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation, Belgium, Sweden, Mexico, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
In the United States, Estes is founding President of the Philadelphia Area Chapter of the Society for International Development (SID). He is a former president of the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GADE), and is a former Chair of the Council on External Relations of the Global Commission of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). In 2004 he was elected President of the International Society For Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS).

Richard J. Estes has been the recipient of many awards and grants for his research on international social work and comparative social development:

• Fulbright-Hays Senior Research Awards (Iran, 1978 and Norway, 1979)
• Fulbright Scholar Award to Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea (1994)
• “Social Worker of the Year” by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (1992)
• Alumni Recognition Award from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Social Work (1996)
• "Distinguished Recent Contribution to Social Work Education Award" by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) (1997)
• "International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award" of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (1997)
• “Best Article in Social Indicators Research Award" of the International Society of Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) (1997)
• Distinguished Visiting Scholar of United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2002).
• "International Education Award" of Global Commission of the Council on Social Work Education (2005)
• "Distinguished Quality of Life Research Award" of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) (2007)
•   University Distinguished Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2012)