The Dane County Almanac Weblog: September 2009

Biographical Sketch

William Robert Benedict

Upon graduating from Earlham College in 1959 with my political science BA degree I accepted a job offer at the Oesterlen Youth Center, a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed adolescents. Oesterlen is located in Springfield, Ohio.

While at Oesterlen I met and married Patricia Sue Orsborn from East Liberty, OH and received my master of social work degree from Ohio State University, College of Social Work. I served as both a social group worker and later as the Director of Residential Services.

During the ten years at Oesterlen we had three of our four children. I earned a comprehensive social studies certificate from Wittenberg University and a teacher’s license from the state of Ohio. I also completed a year of clinical supervision as a certified group psychotherapist by the Group Psychotherapy Association. I resigned from Oesterlen to accept a position as Instructor at Ohio State University School of Social Work. After just a little over one year I resigned to become a psychotherapist at the Clark County Comprehensive Mental Health Center in Springfield.

Our family moved from Springfield to Edgerton, WI and lived on nearby Lake Koshkonong for one year before moving north about twenty miles to Stoughton, WI, in late 1972 near Madison, WI. Here our fourth child was born and I began what would turn into a thirty year job commitment to Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin & Upper Michigan, first as a clinical social work supervisor and group therapist before becoming a program planning and evaluation specialist and later Director of the agency’s Continuous Quality Improvement Program.

In this professional capacity a colleague and I developed and had copyrighted a goal-attainment scaling (GAS) case record management and program evaluation system called, Eval-U-Treat. This application was modeled after Dr. Thomas J. Kiresuk’s Goal Attainment Scaling methodology. See: Goal Attainment Scaling: Applications, Theory, and Measurement, 1994. I also had published the very first articles on how to use this methodology to evaluate a staff training program as well as a human service organization. During the 1970s Eval-U-Treat applications were installed in mental health and social service organizations across the United States and Canada.

I was divorced in 1994 and retired from LSS in 2003. I have been blessed with a new partner. Suzanne Ellen Bergen and I have been together for well over a decade and are now domestic partners. We enjoy tennis and traveling especially to visit my children and grandchildren. Prior to my retirement I wrote a book entitled “The Benedict Family 1830 – 2001: The Legacy of William Robert Benedict.” You can find a copy in the Earlham library.

Since my retirement I have pursued my political and social justice advocacy aspirations.

I presently serve on two boards: The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the Wisconsin Coalition for Aging Groups. I now also write regularly and I have drawn from my favorite sociologist, Dr. Talcott Parsons, in a recent published article, “Clarifying values can help reform politics.” I spend most of my time advocating for campaign finance reform and for state funding for stem cell research. I have been extensively published in both these areas in the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times. If you would like to read more about these issues and others you may explore these writings here in my blog. Your comments would be especially welcomed and appreciated.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Stem Cell Awareness Day

Stem Cell Awareness Day is September 23rd. The idea of celebrating SCAD is to inform the public about stem cell science and to generate grass roots support for research in this field. The future of stem cell research holds great promise for curing a variety of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart, arthritis, and Alzheimer, Parkinson’s, cancer and neurological.

Scientists are presently seeking ways to grow stem cells into a wide range of human cells, tissues and organs. Stem cells may produce revolutionary changes in regenerative medicine seen only rarely in human history.

My family, like most others, has experienced the daily heart aches and challenges caused by one or more chronic diseases. For the past four years I have dedicated much of my time to learning about recent genetic and stem cell medical breakthroughs.

My decision to become a patient advocate for stem cell research funding and regenerative medicine is both personal and public. I want to help bring an end to the generational cycle of suffering inflicted on my family now and in the future and publicly, because the treatment and care of chronic diseases cost the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars each year.

Last year America spent $2.3 trillion on health care costs; 75% of this figure was due to chronic (presently incurable) illnesses. Northing lowers medical costs like curing a disease. This money could better be spent on education and more cell-based science.

I am convinced that our life science and technology has now reached the point of soon ridding us of our most debilitating and costly diseases. I am also strongly convinced that most citizens, if given the same time and opportunity as I have had to study this issue, will also reach the same conclusion.

Won’t you join my family and me and celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day on Thursday, September 23rd. For ideas on how you or your health care organization can advocate for stem cell funding, see Benedict’s blog, Danecountyalmanac/Stem cell funding reform/Action steps for chronic disease advocacy and education organizations.

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Biographical Sketch

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Stem Cell Awareness Day