Remembering Deborah Menashi (1934–2021)

Deborah Menashi, a beloved social work educator who began her teaching career at BU’s School of Social Work (BUSSW), passed away on January 19, 2021.

BUSSW colleagues – including Melvin Delgado, Millie Flashman, Betty Ruth, Ken Schulman, Dean Emerita Gail Steketee, Lee Staples, and Trudy Zimmerman – remember Menashi as a professor with a wonderful sense of humor, high standards, and a gracious inclusiveness; an excellent teacher, advisor, and social worker who was valued deeply by many.

Philanthropist and activist Barbara Lee (SSW’84), a former student of Menashi’s, remembers the role Menashi played in her formative years at BUSSW:

“I first met my beloved professor Debbie Menashi when I went back to graduate school part-time, as a married mom in the late 1970s and early 80s. Debbie became an important role model, mentor/cheerleader and personal friend to me,” says Lee. “Taking Debbie’s classes over multiple years opened my eyes to the depths of gender inequality at a time when these topics were not part of the mainstream dialogue.”

Menashi began teaching at BUSSW in 1970 after receiving an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University in 1956 and an MSW from Smith College in 1958. She taught at BUSSW in the Human Behavior department for seventeen years, including time serving as chair, before moving on to teach at Boston College, Smith College and Southern Massachusetts University. Menashi was also a clinical social worker – an LICSW – with a mental health counseling practice in Lexington, Mass.

“Debbie was highly intelligent, exceptionally outspoken and deeply inspirational,” says Lee. “She was an important intellectual leader and will always be in my heart.”