Three faculty members of UT Social Work were celebrated as Social Work Pioneers at the NASW National Conference in Washington, D.C.

Dr. John McNeil and Dr. David Springer, part of the 2025 cohort, and Dr. Kirk von Sternberg, part of the 2026 cohort, were recognized

The NASW Pioneers program, founded in 1994, recognizes the “select few chosen to join the ranks of social workers who have explored new territories and built outposts for human services around the country.”

The three professors are some of the 23 NASW Social Work Pioneers with ties to The University of Texas at Austin. With von Sternberg’s recognition and Springer’s return to UT Social Work this fall, UT Social Work will have four total active Pioneers on its faculty, including Dr. Cynthia Franklin and Dr. Diana DiNitto.

“Each has made transformative contributions to our profession, and their recognitions are well-deserved,” said Allan Cole, dean of UT Social Work.

Over a 35-year career, von Sternberg has led groundbreaking research on behavioral health interventions in partnership with his colleague Mary Velasquez, focusing on preventing substance use disorders in underserved populations. As principal, co-principal or primary co-investigator, he has secured roughly $25 million in grants funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

His research portfolio includes the CHOICES family of clinical trials, which developed and tested interventions to prevent substance-exposed pregnancies, and Be Well Texas, an $8 million-plus statewide Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment initiative that served more than 14,000 Texans between 2021 and 2025. He received the CDC’s Charles C. Shepard Science Award in 2008.

Dr. McNeil, who passed away in 2023, served UT Social Work as the Louis and Ann Wolens Centennial Chair Emeritus in Gerontology. During his 45-plus years as a social worker, McNeil served in the United States Air Force for 25 years, achieving the rank of colonel, and in academia as a leader in research for the next 20 years.

His nomination noted his academic successes and his successful military career, where he made many national and international contributions to the development and administration of social work and mental health services across 80 U.S. Air Force installations in the United States and abroad. His ability to scale social work best practices through leadership and training across multiple countries benefited countless service members in the U.S. military.

Dr. Springer, who currently serves as dean of the College of Social Work at Florida State University, started as an associate professor with tenure at UT Social Work in 1997, and served the University in various roles — including associate dean for academic affairs at UT Social Work — until 2023.

His nomination noted his work as a licensed clinical social worker and nationally recognized scholar, where Dr. Springer has dedicated his nearly four-decade career to advancing well-being and strengthening communities at the intersection of clinical practice, public policy, and community development. He has led transformative initiatives in juvenile justice reform, crime reduction, mental health policy, and community resilience — anchoring social work values in interdisciplinary systems of care and governance.