April 03, 2007

Godley to deliver annual Renzaglia lecture

by K.C. Jaehnig

One of the first students to receive a doctorate from Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Rehabilitation Institute will return Tuesday, April 17, to deliver the institute's annual Guy A. Renzaglia lecture, named for its founder and first director.

Susan Harrington Godley's free talk, "Almost Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Southern Illinois: Research to Improve Practice," begins at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium on the Carbondale campus. In addition to the lecture, the institute will present 23 student awards and scholarships and will honor its tenure-track and term teachers of the year. A public reception will follow in the center's Corker Lounge.

Godley, who in 1977 also earned a master's degree from SIUC in what was then behavior modification, now serves as senior research scientist for Chestnut Health Systems, a chemical dependency and mental health treatment services provider based in Bloomington, Ill.

Since receiving her doctorate in 1982, Godley has headed several federally funded studies examining treatment and continuing care styles for teenagers with alcohol and drug problems. With a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, she currently directs a randomized clinical trial comparing two types of outpatient treatment and their effects with two types of continuing care. She also oversees contracts to help service providers throughout the country use proven practices.

Over the course of her career, Godley has published more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters on her work. In addition, she has written treatment and case management manuals used by others in the field.

The Rehabilitation Institute began sponsoring the annual lecture in 1978, the year Renzaglia retired. Brought to SIUC in 1955 specifically to create and lead a newly approved rehabilitation counseling program, Renzaglia had built it into one of the country's top training centers for those with disabilities by the time he stepped down.