With the sad news of Dr. Edwin L. Herr’s passing, our profession has lost a marvelous statesperson, scholar, distinguished professor, and mentor to many. Dr. Herr dedicated his career to advancing the counseling profession around the world. His national and international leadership of our profession is remarkable and reflects the type of transformational excellence that CSI has focused on during this year. In fact, in identifying our theme this year, it is my relationship with Ed that guided me. More specifically, throughout his life Ed demonstrated the type of excellence that transforms individuals and associations. He led with the goal of helping others achieve their potential. He showed no deference to status but inclusively reached out to everyone in ways that were caring, empathic, and empowering. I know this because Dr. Herr did this for me in my life. He was my mentor for 35 years and his transformational excellence has made all the difference in my work and life. Like so many, I will forever be grateful for his influence. Our profession is better for his leadership. Those whom he mentored are better people for his caring. We have, indeed, lost a giant who transformed people and our profession.

- Dr. Spencer Niles, CSI President, 2015-2016

Edwin L. Herr
In Remembrance and Tribute to the Man
Dr. Tom Sweeney

When Ed’s son, Chris, asked if I could share a few thoughts about my dear friend, I asked if there were word limits. He responded without hesitating. He said, "we’re talking about my dad here, he never had word limits!” We can laugh but Ed never lacked for words, ever!

Indeed he was without a doubt one of the most prolific scholars in the counseling profession and in several ways stands alone in his many kinds of contributions. Friends know that Ed did all of his scholarly writing by long hand on a legal sized pad. This was before it was ever in typed form. How many thousands of pages that had to make is beyond counting. He testified before Congressional committees, made keynote addresses here and abroad, and all of it started in long hand! His professional vita attests to his many substantial articles, books, monographs and related contributions - but it is the man to whom I wish to call attention.

I first met Ed in the early 1960’s. We were both products to some degree of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. We shared a passion and vision for what the counseling profession could become. We saw it as a bridge for people to dream dreams that compelled them to overcome any obstacles and to realize the life that their hearts’ desired. That vision and hope for others still lives on in Ed’s many mentees and colleagues.

Ed was a natural leader and as a consequence he held so many presidencies, chair and administrative positions that it rivals his publications. No small feat! So when I saw that he’d reached what others considered to be the height of his leadership career, I called to talk with him about running for the presidency of the counseling honor society (Chi Sigma Iota). He told me quite candidly that he was burned out on leadership. He was done!

Never one to be deterred for a good cause, I asked if I could share my experience and how this experience for him would be different. I told him that I could not guarantee that he would get elected but that I could say that if he was elected, I could guarantee that it would be more satisfying than anything that he had done before. When I finished he said that he’d think it over and get back to me. I assume that he spoke with Pat, the love of his life, before responding. The rest is history.

Indeed, Ed later told me that his CSI experience was a highlight of his leadership career. No surprise, Ed was a great president and an active past-president for CSI. I remember well him accepting more than one invitation to make brief remarks at chapter initiations sometimes requiring extraordinary travel arrangements. His real legacy, however, came out of a conversation that we had during a break in an Executive Council meeting.

We asked ourselves after these many years of being away from family, friends, and leisure activities to be involved in leadership within the counseling profession, why were we still doing it? Those who over heard our conversation suggested that we write down our thoughts for others to read. We did and Ed’s reflections are captured in his remarks for one of our annual conference programs and now posted on CSI’s website. Borrowing from Greenleaf’s 1970‘s essay, Ed summed it up beautifully.

"Each member is encouraged to consider and reflect on this question: Am I a leader-first or servant-first or something in between?”

Ed was never "in between”! He was always a servant first. Intelligent, competent, delightful sense of humor and genuinely kind, Ed served in leadership roles not for what they could give him but for what he could give to realize a greater good for others. Ever since that occasion CSI has adopted the "Servant Leader” mantra for its leadership and advocacy philosophy and values. This now reaches a membership exceeding 100,000 while mentoring over 7,000 new members to the profession each year. I can think of no other organization for which Ed served that has benefitted so greatly.

In the conclusion of the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, Ed’s approach to life can be understood,

"O Divine Master, Grant that I may so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

To those of us who knew and will always love Ed, we can add our voices to say, "Well done good and faithful servant!”.

If you would like to make a donation to CSI in memory of Dr. Herr, you can contribute to the Edwin L. Herr Fellowship Fund.

Originally published at csi-net.org on April 27, 2016.