J. Scott Briar, former Social Work dean, dies at 71
J. Scott Briar, who led the University of Washington School of Social Work in what colleagues called its “golden period,” died Aug. 24 of kidney failure. He was 71. Briar was dean from 1970 to 1988, when the UW School of Social Work rose to national prominence.
“There was basically a decade where he literally was the dominant figure nationally in both social work education and in research that was scientifically based,” said Ted Teather, a former associate dean in the UW School of Social Work. “He saw social work as an art and a science.”
In the riot-torn 1960s, Briar delivered government-relief funds to African American farmers in the Mississippi Delta. And when he was acting dean of the School of Social Work at the University of California, Berkeley, he and a colleague did a study that reported a link between race and criminal convictions of youth in Oakland. He joined the UW after serving at Berkeley.
Born in Topeka, Kan., Briar grew up wanting to be a doctor. He served in the Army in World War II, helping to liberate death camps. After that experience, he abandoned his desire to become a doctor and wanted instead to end suffering and injustice.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Washburn University, a master’s in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and a doctorate in social work from Columbia University. He paid his way through school by playing in bands and performing magic tricks in clubs.
He is survived by children Jennifer Briar of Seattle, Keith Briar of San Francisco and Nancy Backman of Houston; his sister, Mary Jane Patzel of Lawrence, Kan.; and one grandchild. Remembrances may go to the Scott Briar Graduate Fellowship Fund, UW School of Social Work.