[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 19, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1144-E1145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RETIREMENT OF DR. DAVID E. EPPERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 19, 2001

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe that Dr. David E. 
Epperson, Dean of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, 
is retiring after nearly 30 years.
  Dean Epperson is the longest-serving dean of social work in the 
country. Having served in this position since 1972, he has also served 
as a dean at Pitt longer than anyone else in the school's history. 
Under his leadership, the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social 
Work has tripled in size and become one of the nation's foremost 
graduate schools for social work.
  Dean Epperson is a University of Pittsburgh alumnus as well. He 
earned a bachelor's degree, two master's degrees, and a Ph.D in 
political science and public policy at Pitt. He has studied in Hong 
Kong and Turkey as well.
  In addition to his academic career, Dr. Epperson worked for the YMCA 
both in Pittsburgh and Hong Kong. He currently serves on the National 
Board of Directors and International Committee of the YMCA of the USA, 
as well as the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan YMCA of 
Pittsburgh. He was also the former executive director of Community 
Action Pittsburgh, Incorporated.
  Dean Epperson has also found the time to be very active in community 
affairs. He has served on the State Planning Board, the Judicial Reform 
Commission for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania 
Humanities Council, and the State Compensation

[[Page E1145]]

Commission. He has served as chairman of the board of the Urban League 
of Pittsburgh, the Negro Educational Emergency Drive, and the 
Riverfront Working Group for the City of Pittsburgh. He has served on 
the board of directors of the Salvation Army, ACTION-Housing, the 
American Red Cross, Magee-Womens Hospital, the Pittsburgh Council for 
International Visitors, and the PNC Urban Advisory Board. And he has 
served as a trustee of the National Urban League and the National 
Center for Social Policy and Practice. He has served as deacon and 
trustee at the Macedonia Baptist Church as well.
  Currently Dean Epperson is the Vice Chairman of the Urban 
Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, and he serves on the Allegheny 
County Department of Human Services Oversight Committee, the William J. 
Copeland Fund Advisory Committee of the Pittsburgh Foundation, the 
Lemington Home Advisory Board of the Pittsburgh Foundation. He is also 
a Trustee of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and its Metro-Urban 
Ministry Advisory Board.
  Finally, Dean Epperson has also been active in a number of 
professional organizations, and he has received many, many awards 
recognizing his many important contributions and accomplishments.
  David E. Epperson is a remarkably talented man who has a tremendous 
impact at the University of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania in 
the course of his long and productive professional career. I am certain 
that Dean Epperson will continue to be active in community affairs 
after his retirement as well. A dinner honoring Dean Epperson on the 
occasion of his retirement will be held in Pittsburgh tomorrow. On 
behalf of the people of Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District, I 
want to wish him well at this milestone in his life.

                          ____________________