Robyn Golden honored with the 2025 Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award

This blog post was adapted from a RUSH Story on the RUSH.edu website and combined with quotations from Robyn Golden’s acceptance speech.

The National Association of Social Workers Foundation has honored Robyn Golden, LCSW, associate vice president of social work and community health, with the 2025 Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award for her work in advancing health and mental health policies that improve patient care.

The foundation cited Golden’s success in redefining the role of clinical social workers in health care.

For more than 10 years, Golden advocated for social workers to be eligible to provide Medicare patients with health behavior assessment and intervention services and greater access to other social work services. Golden met with state and federal leaders, including members of Congress, and White House staff, to share how to improve health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries by including social workers as eligible providers. In 2024, they were made eligible under a Medicare rule change.

“During my career, I have focused on vulnerable populations, with an attempt to bridge practice, research, education, and policy,” says Golden.

“Robyn’s exceptional leadership and persistence have improved the health and quality of life of patients, not only at Rush but across the nation,” said David Ansell, MD, MPH, senior vice president for community health equity. “Her work has advanced the field of social care and community health tremendously.”

National Leadership and Advocacy.

In addition to her associate vice presidency role, Golden is chair of the Department of Social Work at the College of Health Sciences; assistant professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Health Systems Management; and co-director of Rush’s Center for Excellence in Aging and the Center for Health and Social Care Integration.

Golden serves on the RRF Foundation for Aging Board of Trustees. She is the founder and chair of the Coalition for Social Work and Health and has served as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee studying the integration of social needs care into the delivery of health care. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. An active member of NASW for 46 years, she is an NASW Social Work Pioneer.

Golden is also a fierce advocate for the value of social work as a profession, and she advances this advocacy through the Coalition for Social Work and Health. “So often, social work’s value gets missed,” says Golden. “We remain one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented professions. I believe that critical programs will not be sustained unless we show our value and worth, and instill that value into communication campaigns and policy strategies. By building an evidence base, we are also building the case for social workers as a profession deserving of prestige and status because of the impact we have on the health and well-being of our communities.”

About the Award

Established in 1990, NASW Foundation’s Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award honors social work practitioners who share the values, ethics and approaches of the award’s namesakes: Ruth Knee (1920–2008) and Milton Wittman (1915–1994), who were both trailblazers in the mental health field.

“All the way back to Jane Addams, another proud Chicagoan, we social workers have focused on the people in our communities with the greatest need, to then address the larger social issues that affect them,” says Golden. “Ruth Knee and Milton Whitman followed that legacy with their lifetime commitment to social values and the effective provision of services.”

Looking Forward

Moving forward, Golden urges social workers and others in social care professions to keep up the important work through both practice and advocacy, especially in the face of a complex, changing world. “Our profession must continue to reflect the moral imperative to correct disparities, enhance equality, and bring us all closer to a just society. To do that, we need to go beyond what is comfortable and strive to be politically active and engaged.”

Congratulations, Robyn! We are honored to work alongside you in the fight for health equity, social justice, and social work advocacy.

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