Helen Rehr

{{Infobox person

| name = Helen Rehr

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|12|16}}

| birth_place = New York City

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|02|13|1919|12|16}}

| death_place = New York City

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| occupation = professor of social work

| years_active = 1954–2013

| known_for = Director of the Department of Social Work at Mount Sinai Hospital

| notable_works =

}}

Helen Rehr (December 16, 1919 – February 13, 2013) was an American medical social worker, director of the Department of Social Work at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Early life

Helen Rehr was born in New York, the daughter of Philip Rehr and Rose Rehr. Both of her parents were born in Poland. She attended Hunter College for undergraduate studies,[http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/conference/helen_rehr_obit.pdf "Helen Rehr, MSW, PhD (1919–2013)"] Hunter College. before earning a master's degree from Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) in 1945; she completed a doctorate there in 1970.[https://beta.global.columbia.edu/global-news/cussw-mourns-loss-social-work-legend-helen-rehr-sw45-dsw70 "CUSSW Mourns the Loss of Social Work Legend Helen Rehr (SW'45, DSW'70)"] Columbia University School of Social Work (February 16, 2013).

Career

Rehr joined the social work department of Mount Sinai Hospital in 1954, and retired as the department's director in 1986.Gary Rosenberg, [https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2013.806856 "A Tribute to Dr. Helen Rehr"] Social Work in Health Care 52(2013): 523–524. She helped establish international exchanges for social work scholarship, and helped create the International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health. She was on faculty at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Medical Center, where she was director of the Academic Division of Social Work. Rehr had more than a hundred scholarly publications.[https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/rehr-helen "Helen Rehr"] Jewish Women's Archive. She was a member of the editorial board for the journal Social Work in Health Care from its founding in 1975, and was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1978–1979), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1986).

Academic and professional honors accorded to Rehr included the CUSSW Distinguished Service Alumni Medal in 2004; the "Social Work Pioneer" designation by the National Association of Social Workers Foundation; the Ida M. Cannon Award in 1975,SSWLHC, [http://www.sswlhc.org/docs/AwardWinners.pdf "Ida M. Cannon Award"]. induction into the Hunter College Hall of Fame, and into the Columbia University School of Social Work Hall of Fame. She was a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Personal life and legacy

Rehr died in 2013, aged 93 years, at her home in New York City.Wendy Bunston, [https://www.smh.com.au/national/inspirational-advocate-for-social-works-place-in-hospital-care-20130305-2fjkz.html "Inspirational advocate for social work's place in hospital care"] Sydney Morning Herald (March 6, 2013). She established both the Helen Rehr Scholarship Fund and the Helen Rehr and Ruth Fizdale Professorship Fund in Health and Mental Health, both at CUSSW. The Helen Rehr Center for Social Work Practice was founded in 2010.[http://www.helenrehrcenter.org/about_us/index.html Helen Rehr Center for Social Work Practice], About Us, website.

References

{{reflist}}