Lillian Milanof was legendary among social work practitioners in Louisville. Born October 13, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Stephen and Anna Csecs Milanof, Professor Milanof's heritage is a lifetime of accomplishments as an advocate for social justice, inspired by her belief in human worth and informed by her humane values. Since her career in social work and education began in 1944, clients, students, co-workers, and innumerable others have remarked about her strength, compassion and dedicated advocacy. Renowned for her more than two decades as an educator in the Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville, Milanof was also a nationally recognized child welfare expert whose encyclopedic recollection of child caring practices improved contemporary views about child welfare. Professor Milanof earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University and a Master of Science of Applied Social Sciences from Western – Reserve (now Case – Western). Throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, she held various positions, in public welfare organizations in Ohio and New York. Before she came to Kentucky, Professor Milanof's rich and productive professional career included early work experiences in her native New York State where she held positions with the Suffolk County Department of Social Welfare; Westfield State Farms; Cayuga County Citizens Council; the Health and Welfare Council of Buffalo and Erie County; and the Syracuse Child and Family Services. In 1964, she moved to Kentucky and joined the social work faculty at the University of Louisville, where during the next 23 years she taught and advised students and served in administrative positions, including four years as Director of Admissions. Her sabbatical pursuits during these years included work with the Kentucky Youth Research Center in Frankfort, Kentucky, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington, D.C. She was named Professor Emerita upon her retirement from the University of Louisville in 1986. In the 1960s and 1970s, and again in the 1990s, she served on advisory bodies for the administrations of no less than four Kentucky governors. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, she served on a variety of boards and planning committees for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Louisville and Western Kentucky. In 2002 Milanof was appointed by Mayor David Armstrong to the Louisville and Jefferson County Human Relations Commission. Starting in 1992, Milanof served on the Advisory Committee for Spalding University's School of Social Work, and in 1998, she established the Lillian C. Milanof Scholarship Fund to benefit Spalding's social work students. She received a "Woman of Distinction" award from the Center for Women and Families in 1999 and a "Community Award of Excellence" from the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners in 2002. Mayor David Armstrong and Jefferson County Judge Executive Rebecca Jackson declared October 12, 2002, to be "Lillian C. Milanof Day" in Louisville and Jefferson County. For her distinguished career in social work practice and education; for a lifetime of service to those living in special need; and for her endeavors to inspire positive change in Louisville and beyond, Spalding University honored Lillian C. Milanof.

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