By Ann Nicholson
April 20, 2001
Shanti K. Khinduka, Ph.D., who has served as dean and professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work since 1974, was installed April 12 as the inaugural George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor.
Under Khinduka's leadership, the school has risen to one of the top-ranked institutions of social work in the country and become a model for cutting-edge research, innovative curriculum and fostering community self-determination.
"As dean, Shanti not only has played an instrumental role in the development of this school for more than 25 years, but also has had an extraordinary effect on social work education nationally," Chancellor Mark. S. Wrighton said. "His vision and leadership have had a tremendous impact on the University, as well --lifting our visibility and building our identity as a major research institution.
"I can think of no one more deserving of this inaugural appointment as the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor."
 Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton (right) and John F. McDonnell (left), chairman of the University Board of Trustees, congratulate Shanti K. Khinduka, Ph.D., dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, on his April 12 installation as the inaugural George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor.
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The chair is named in honor of Brown, for whom the social work school is also named. Brown was a wholesale shoe manufacturer based in St. Louis. Upon his death in 1925, his widow, Bettie Bofinger Brown, established the school as a memorial to him. When she died in 1931, a portion of her estate was set aside for the construction of a new facility; Brown Hall was dedicated in January 1937.
William H. Danforth, M.D., chancellor emeritus and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, said, "Shanti is my model of a great academic leader. He has led the school magnificently while providing exemplary leadership to the social work profession nationally and internationally, made the school a magnet for students from all over the world, and helped lead the University in its international efforts."
Danforth, who hired Khinduka, added: "Above all, Shanti is a leader who inspires trust and admiration, as he builds carefully on people and programs, guiding us toward his noble goals."
Khinduka's tenure is one of the longest for a social work dean and the longest of a dean currently serving the University. Highlights of his term as dean include construction of the $13 million Goldfarb Hall and renovation of Brown Hall; formation of centers of path-breaking research in areas such as addiction, mental health services, social development and in support of American Indians; and remarkable growth of the research portfolio of the social work faculty.
The school has also substantially increased its endowment; established a number of named professorships for faculty; greatly expanded the number of scholarships for students; broadened and deepened its programs of interdisciplinary collaboration; and become the favorite locus for graduate education for the largest number of international students in any U.S. social work school.
An editor of three books, Khinduka founded the Journal of Social Service Research in 1977 and remains chairman of its editorial board. He has been published in U.S. and foreign journals on technical assistance, community and social development, and international social welfare.
Khinduka has served as a member or chair of numerous boards and committees of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Conference on Social Welfare, Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work Schools, and United Way of Greater St. Louis. He is the current chairman of the board of directors of Missouri Goodwill Industries and is serving a second four-year term as chairman of the NASW Publications Committee. He is president-elect of the Inter-University Consortium for International Social Development.
Among his many honors, Khinduka received the NASW President's Award for Educational Excellence and the Los Amigos de la Humanidad Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Southern California School of Social Work.
Born in Jaipur, India, Khinduka earned a bachelor's degree from Rajasthan University (Jaipur) in 1953; master of social work degrees from Lucknow University (Lucknow, India) in 1955 and the University of Southern California in 1961; and a doctorate from Brandeis University in 1968. Before joining Washington University, he taught at Lucknow and Saint Louis universities.
He and his wife of 46 years, Manorama, have two daughters --Abha and Seema, both graduates of Washington University --and five grandchildren.
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