Lecture Series
Dean Jack Otis Social Problem and Social Policy Lecture
The purpose of the Social Problem and Social Policy Lecture is to present, analyze, and clarify a continuing and important social problem such as poverty, white collar crime, global warming, and the like. Based on the analysis, more effective policies and programs are to be recommended and to be evaluated once tried.
- 2008 Lecture: 2:00-3:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 7, 4th Floor Atrium- Flawn Academic Center. "Hate in America: What Can Be Done?" (PDF)
Mark A. Potok, Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project and Editor of Intelligence Report magazine. - 2007 Inaugural Lecture: "Can America End Its Drug War Addiction?"
Jack A. Cole, Executive Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Medford, Massachusetts

About Dean Jack Otis
Sponsor of the lecture series is Dr. Jack Otis, former dean (1965-1977) and professor (1978-1993) at the School of Social Work, the University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure as dean, the baccalaureate and doctoral degree programs and research and training centers were established and the master's degree was revised to include an emphasis on community organization and social policy.Dr. Otis was instrumental in establishing national standards for the accreditation of undergraduate social work education and served for several years as a site visitor and member of the Council on Social Work Education Commission on Accreditation. In addition to presenting and publishing numerous social policy papers and articles, he coauthored Corporate Society and Education, The University of Michigan Press (1961), and was a Fulbright research scholar (1977-78). From 1961-65, Dr. Otis served as a consultant to the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime chaired by U.S. Attorney-General Robert Kennedy and as Deputy Director of the Office of Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Development.
Distinguished Scholars Lecture
- 2008 Inaugural Lecture: "Self-Change: Findings and Implications for the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors" (PDF)
Dr. Linda Carter Sobell, ABPP, Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training, Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Sue Fairbanks Lecture in Psychoanalytic Knowledge
- 2009 Inaugural Lecture: To be announced
