In 2010, Ada Deer, Distinguished Lecturer Emerita, was recognized by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) as a NASW Social Work Pioneer for her work as an advocate and organizer on behalf of American Indians.
She became the first woman to be appointed Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, the first Native American woman to run for Congress in Wisconsin, the first native American to lobby Congress successfully to restore tribal rights, and the first Chairwoman of her tribe, the Menominee nation.
