J. David Williams, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus at Northern Illinois University (NIU) died April 9, 2010 in Sarasota, FL. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1954, specializing in stuttering. His career included teaching and clinical practice at Marshall University, the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, the University of the Philippines (as a Fulbright lecturer), and NIU from 1959 until his 1986 retirement. Dr. Williams was active in the National Council of Stuttering for several years, organizing conferences and editing their quarterly newsletter. He and his wife, Dorothy (DJ), also a speech therapist, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in September 2009.
DJ emailed the following note telling friends about Dave's passing
Our daughters, Holly and Carol, arrived within 24 hours and have been with me since. The three of us have been giving each other tremendous support. (Holly is writing this as I dictate it.) We have shared many tears as well as many happy memories. Our sorrow is tempered by the knowledge that he had a wonderful life; I am adjusting well because of the great support I have from my daughters and everyone here at the Fountains.
In September, DJ sent the following picture, note and attachments
One of Dave's important contributions was Basic Goals for a Person Who Stutters - chapter 10 from the Stuttering Foundation's classic Advice to Those Who Stutter (Basic Goals for a Person Who Stutters http://www.stutteringhelp.org/default.aspx?tabindex=794&tabid=807)
Dave served on the Prof is In for the ISAD online conferences in 2008 when he also read and commented on basically every paper posted on the conference and submitted a paper "Some Thoughts on Stuttering Therapy" (http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad11/papers/williamsjd11.html) responding to all the questions/comments that participants posted. He also participated actively in the 2009 online conference in October by reading and responding to the papers.
Dave shared several things that are now a part of The Stuttering Home Page
Tributes/Memories
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