University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Dale Hawley recently received a statewide award recognizing his outstanding contributions to his profession at the annual Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Conference in Madison.
Hawley, director of the marriage and family therapy program and chair of the human development and family studies department at UW-Stout, garnered the Carl Whitaker Award.
“I was quite honored and surprised,” said Hawley, of Hudson. “It is kind of akin to a lifetime achievement award.”
The board of the WAMFT selects award recipients. Hawley has served on the board in the past for seven years. He has worked at UW-Stout 16 years.
The mission of WAMFT, part of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, is to advance the profession and practice of marriage and family therapy and to improve the quality of life for individuals, couples, families and communities throughout Wisconsin.
“Our leadership unanimously chose Dale for this award because we felt he embodied the spirit of the award,” Wirth said. “The Carl Whitaker award is conferred upon WAMFT members who have distinguished themselves by contributing to the field of marriage and family therapy in creative or innovative ways.”
Whitaker was a pioneer in the marriage and family therapy field, Wirth said.
Hawley attended Abilene Christian University for his undergraduate degree in Bible and history. His master’s degree is in family therapy from Abilene Christian and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in family social science.
Hawley started out working in youth ministry in Milwaukee. He discovered that he wanted to work with families and decided to go into higher education.
Whitaker used to visit UW-Stout as a guest lecturer, Hawley noted.
Bruce Kuehl, the previous program director of the marriage and family therapy program, also won the Carl Whitaker Award.
UW-Stout offers a Master of Science degree in marriage and family therapy. The university also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies and, in addition to an on-campus degree, offers an online degree for those with an associate degree or equivalent.
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Dale Hawley
