Dan Was There for Us

Keywords

social work education, American Indian/Alaska Native, Indigenous, First Nations, social work practice & leadership

Abstract

In partnership with his spouse and social work colleague, Dr. Marge Edwards, Dr. E. Daniel (“Dan”) Edwards (Yurok) developed and directed the American Indian Social Work Career Training Program at the University of Utah. This program recruited and successfully graduated over 300 American Indian social workers over four decades, meaningfully changing the face of social work practice in many communities. He also encouraged numerous students to pursue doctorate degrees in social work, inspiring them to conduct culturally sensitive and responsive research to help American Indian Peoples, and to teach upcoming generations of social work practitioners. He extended his patient and gentle guidance and mentorship to encourage and support non-Native students to be part of this vision as well. With wisdom, compassion, and self-deprecating humor, Dr. Edwards’ influence on social work has been transformative. Those he has touched in turn share some of the gifts he has given them, extending his influence across distance and across time. This paper recounts some of the contributions of Dr. Edwards’ career through separate narratives from four individuals whom he has influenced.

Original Publication Citation

Barkdull, C., Ned, D., Limb, G., Weaver, H., & Himonas, L. (2016). Dan was there for us. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 21(2), 68-74.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2017-08-29

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5907

Publisher

Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Social Work

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS