University Times

Retired associate professor of social work Mattie B. Addis died Aug. 16, 1998, of complications from diabetes and congestive heart failure. She was 75.

Addis graduated summa cum laude from Kentucky State College in 1944, earning a bachelor's degree in sociology and history. She completed her master's in social administration at Case Western Reserve in 1946.

Addis worked for the Brashear Association, a Pittsburgh community settlement organization, from 1946 to 1957, was director of neighborhood services at Pittsburgh Soho Community House, 1957 to 1964, was acting director for the Hill House Association from 1965 to 1968 and supervisor of group work services for Pittsburgh Child Guidance Center and Headstart Child Development Center from 1968 to 1978. Addis joined Pitt's School of Social Work faculty in 1978 and retired in 1991.

"Professor Addis was always very well prepared," said social work Dean David Epperson, a friend and colleague of Addis for more than 35 years. "She was rigorous in her own way, but at the same time was able to give support to her students. She could teach all kinds of courses, she was a clinician, she was an organizer, she was responsible as an administrator. She was just solid, well-liked and well-loved. She will be missed." Addis is survived by her husband, James; a son, James Benjamin of Washington, D.C.; and three sisters, Lucille Allen and Matele Levert of Woodmere, Ohio, and Mary Martin of West Palm Beach, Florida. n