Marcia Adler, a leader in social work and psychotherapy, died of breast cancer on Dec. 3. She trained hundreds of clinical social work students and treated troubled youth at her private practice in Chicago.

Adler, aged 55, also pushed to extend services and expand the Institute for Clinical Social Work curriculum to cover some of society’s most vulnerable, including the homeless.

“She always supported the underdog,”  Institute Dean Amy Eldridge said.

Read Adler’s full obituary in the Chicago Tribune.