A blooming garden
Even the most sumptuous garden can’t compare to the perennial performers in David Olson’s arboretum of academic talent.
As a mentor, role model, and creative and dedicated teacher, Olson has helped nurture and give bloom to many of the best and brightest in the current generation of family social science academicians and practitioners. In turn, those accomplished professionals now are training the next generation.
“I consider him to be clearly the most decisive influence on my professional career,” says former student Douglas Sprenkle, professor and director of marriage and family therapy at Purdue University. “He has become the model for my own career and that of the doc-toral program that I direct at Purdue University….he taught me a standard of quality that I also have demanded of my students.”
As a family social science professor for more than 25 years, Olson’s accomplishments number many—helping build an emerging discipline, developing models, and applying those models to national and international practice. But assisting in the development of graduate students holds a special place in his list of favorite activities. “I think it’s the most exciting to me,” he says.
“It’s kind of like growing a garden. Different students have different characteristics, but by creating a good, fertile environment, they really just blossom. For me, that is the best part.”
Olson takes a collaborative approach in guiding students, involving them in group projects with opportunities to work together as a team and also to publish. His egalitarian style helps students feel at ease while they pursue new challenges.
Joe Reid counts himself among those who admire Olson’s mentoring talents. Reid came to the family social science program in 1995 to pursue a Ph.D. and found that his interests in marriage and family therapy meshed well with Olson’s expertise. “David is a dynamic per-son,” says Reid. “He is tremendously generous not only with his time, but also with the sup-port he offers to students. He treats you like an equal, and there is a great give-and-take.”
As a result of working with Olson, Reid is making the most of an intriguing project that taps both his research and clinical skills. He serves as a researcher and coordinator for a program called Asthma Roadways that com-bines medical and social interventions to reduce the incidence of asthma among children in inner-city locations.
“It allows me to integrate family skills with marriage and family research skills,” says Reid, who plans to write his thesis on the research results from the program. “It’s also an opportunity to learn more from the health provider’s point of view.”
Olson’s own experience with disturbed children helped cement the direction of his work. He saw firsthand the impact of parents—both positive and negative—on children. The dynamics of those relationships fascinated Olson, who became more interested in family dynamics.
At the time, the field of family social science had just begun to develop. Olson first came to Minnesota as a postdoctoral student after completing his Ph.D. He was lured back from a faculty position at the University of Maryland by an offer from Minnesota to help develop a Ph.D. program.
One of his earliest team projects included developing the Circumplex Model, a conceptual framework that has stimulated more than 1,000 completed and ongoing studies world-wide. The model integrates a wide range of family behavior concepts into a system that allows clinicians to better understand and measure family functioning. Olson then worked with professionals from many disciplines to apply the concepts with couples and families.
Since then, more than 35,000 counselors and clergy in 10 countries have used the tools developed as a result of the model—which include the FACES, PREPARE, and ENRICH inventories. In 1987, Olson received the MACE Medal from the Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment. In addition, he has received several other awards for his many contributions to the marriage and family field from national organizations such as the American Association of Marital and Family Therapy and the American Psychological Association.
Over the years, Olson’s research has attracted many promising graduate students. In turn, Olson has helped shape the department’s highly ranked Marriage and Family Therapy program and developed new curricula and courses in the area.
Despite a phased retirement from the University, Olson currently continues to improve his instruments, complete the third revision of his textbook, and develop a web-based course for students. “I want to keep that synergy going. I think the integration of teaching, research, and practice keeps this work interesting and fresh.”
For graduate students—many of whom are now leaders in the field—his ability to make the links among theory, research, and practice helped pave the way for their success.
“He definitely opens doors for students,” says Reid. “David is well-known for the quality and impact of his work. I view working with David Olson as a valuable experience both professionally and personally.”