At its first Chicago conference, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy awarded an NIU associate dean of professional studies a fellowship to its organization.

About 3,000 people, including representatives from England, East Germany, Israel and Australia, attended the annual convention in October when Earl Goodman received the award.

The AAMFT is an organization of professional therapists, whose objective is to see therapy is provided nationwide at the highest level possible. Its goal also is to improve techniques used in family and marriage therapy and to do research in the field, Goodman said.

According to the AAMFT, “Fellows are chosen by their colleagues as persons representing excellence in the field of marriage and family therapy and who have made special contributions as clinicians, teachers, researchers, writers and to the organization itself.”

Goodman has been in the AAMFT since 1965, he said. Since that time he has served on the organization’s state and national boards.

He started the first family and marriage courses at NIU and was the first to request the development of NIU’s master’s level of family therapy.

In addition, Goodman has contributed numerous papers and articles to the journals of AAMFT, he said.

Goodman said the fellowship was the highest award the AAMFT could give him in recognition of his past contributions. “I appreciate the honor of the award. It was a very nice honor to receive,” Goodman said.

Goodman taught courses in family therapy at the University of New Hampshire before coming to NIU in 1972.