Rodney B. Dieser, PhD

Rodney B. Dieser's Vitae

Education

PhD, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta (Canada), 2002
MA, Mental Health Counseling, University of Northern Iowa (USA), 2014
MS, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah (USA), 1997
BS, Recreation and Leisure, University of Utah (USA), 1994
AS, Therapeutic Recreation, Lethbridge Community College (Canada), 1991

Honors and Awards

2024 Loren Horton Community History Award by the State Historical Society of Iowa
2024 Ney C. Landrum Park History Award by the National Association of State Park Directors
2020 Best Research Paper, Academy for Leisure Sciences for paper (with Dr. Jerry Lee)
2017 Fellow, Academy of Leisure Sciences
2017 Outstanding Alumni Award, University of Utah, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
2016 International Fellow, China-North America Leisure Studies Network
2014 Outstanding Research Award, College of Education, University of Northern Iowa
2014 Milestone Award for Outstanding Mentoring to Graduate Students, Graduate College, University of Northern Iowa
2012 Fellow, World Leisure Academy
2010 Fellow, American Leisure Academy
2007 Presidential Citation, Society of Parks and Recreation Educators
2006 Outstanding Professional Research Award, National Therapeutic Recreation Society
2005 Tribune Article Award, Canadian Therapeutic Recreation Association
2004 Research, Publishing, Writing/Speaking Award, Alberta Therapeutic Recreation Association (Canada)

Biography

Rodney B. Dieser, PhD, CTRS, LMHC, is a professor in Recreation, Tourism and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Northern Iowa. He served as an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Clinical Mental Health Counseling from 2018-2022. From 2008-2018, he served as the program coordinator of the master's degree in philanthropy and nonprofit development and has successfully supervised over 50 graduate students.

Dr. Dieser believes classroom learning should be based on a professor who has one foot in scholarship/research and another foot in professional practice, what is known as a scholar/researcher-practitioner model.

As a researcher, Dr. Dieser has published over 100 academic articles, 30 professional articles, and seven books. His writings have appeared in some of the most prestigious journals in Medicine (e.g., History of Psychiatry, Lancet Psychiatry, Mayo Clinic Proceedings), mental health counseling (e.g., Counseling Psychology Quarterly, International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, Journal of Humanistic Counseling), cultural/heritage tourism (e.g. Annals of Tourism Research, Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly), leisure services/therapeutic recreation (e.g., Leisure Sciences, Journal of Leisure Research, Therapeutic Recreation Journal), and in esteemed newspapers (e.g., Chicago Tribune, Deseret News, Des Moines Register, USA Today). He is one of the first scholars in therapeutic recreation to write about cross-cultural therapeutic recreation in a sustained manner and is one of the first scholars in mental health counseling to link the Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP) to the professional fields of mental health counseling and medicine. His most recent historical souvenir book, Cedar Rock by Frank Lloyd Wright was the recipient of a 2024 Loren Horton Community History Award by the State Historical Society of Iowa and the 2024 Ney C. Landrum Park History Award by the National Association of State Park Directors for original research in a state park. Dr. Dieser is an International Fellow of the China-North America Leisure Studies Network and Fellow of the Academy of Leisure Sciences and the World Leisure Academy.

As a practitioner, Dieser works 10 to 12 hours a week as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) at Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa), and prior to that at Covenant Family Solutions in Cedar Falls and New Directions Counseling in Waterloo (Iowa). His mental health work has been focused on youth and emerging adulthood. He is a Diplomate Clinician with the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy (2021) and serves as the Editor of the International Forum for Logotherapy. He has also served as an adviser to the Mayo Clinic Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine related to a special anthology of how leisure spaces at Mayo Clinic help create a healing milieu. Dieser currently serves as President of the nonprofit Friends of Cedar Rock State Park that has a mission to preserve the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Walter House. His prior employment includes working as an inclusion specialist for the Salt Lake City (Utah) school district with adults with developmental disabilities and working as a licensed therapeutic recreation specialist in addiction rehabilitation and homeless outreach for Catholic Community Services of Salt Lake City. He brings into the classroom relevant research-based findings and real-world practitioner experiences.

His research and teaching interests include: (1) leisure and mental health, including leisure and wellness embedded in mental health counseling, youth development/emerging adulthood and leisure services at Mayo Clinic, (2) cross-cultural therapeutic recreation and leisure service delivery, (3) cultural and heritage tourism, (4) inclusive recreation and leisure education services for people with disabilities, (5) historical and philosophical foundations of leisure, youth, and nonprofit human services, including Hull-House, 1889-1953 and the African-American South Side Settlement House, 1920-1950, and (6) the nexus between moral development and songs/short stories of musician Bruce Springsteen.

Mayo Clinic Proceedings Insights: The professor shares his research on how leisure service delivery at the Mayo Clinic can decrease patient stress and prevent burnout among physicians/medical staff

Iowa Public Radio: A guest regarding the topic of the new relationship with leisure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iowa Public Radio: A guest regarding the topic of making hospitals feel more like home through leisure environments