Honoring Dennis E. Mithaug, PhD

Dennis Earl Mithaug passed away on December 2, 2023. He lived his life from coast to coast (Washington to New York) but his final journey took place surrounded by his wife and children at Sun City Center, Florida.

Born in the town of Wallace, Idaho on August 11, 1942 to parents Earl and Madge Mithaug – and raised with his older sister Sandra Earlene Jackson.

Thanks to musical skills, talent and a famous tap-dancing partnership with his sister, he grew up treated like a prince in his community. Despite the advantages, Dennis took off to the other side of the country to study at Dartmouth College. While it was a struggle surviving the first couple years, Dennis excelled in sociology and psychology research areas.

Armed with his aura of confidence, an Ivy League degree, and academic expertise based on mathematical problem solving strategies, he returned home and earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology and a M.Ed. in Special Education at the University of Washington. However, despite being loaded with degrees and research skills that generated lots of studies, no one was quite sure what to do with him.

“ (…Others) pushed me into applying my research with helping children with severe disabilities learn… and I eventually ended up teaching these kids how to be independent. It was a challenge, but at the same time natural for me to figure out. And I excelled and loved doing this work.”

For over ten years Dennis enjoyed an exhilarating and successful home at the University of Washington  filled with lots of triumphs, such as creating and running a business called “Exceptional Education” for several years. While performing a musical ironically called “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” he met and married Cathleen G. Chouinard in 1965. Four children followed – Derek, Dana, Deirdre, and Dustin – who enjoyed being the focus of Dennis’ philosophy of teaching early. Under the magnetic spotlights of both Dennis and Cathy, the children danced, acted, ice skated, and played piano and accordion all over the Seattle, and later, Colorado Springs areas.

Around 1978 university politics and Dennis and Cathy’s unstoppable grit to move forward landed them in Colorado. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) initially hired him as an Associate Professor to help him develop his teaching skills. After two years he became a full professor and was anointed Dean of the Special Ed. department.

“…I did that job for a while but found it was too time consuming, restrictive, and really not what I was interested in. So, I went back to researching and got some grant money together to begin studies of what happens to special education students after high school. Findings were very grim, and initially published in the special education journal. This set off a fire in the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and they began shoveling out lots of grant money to fund more of these follow up studies.

“…one time I checked my work mailbox and there was an invitation to apply for this position at TC (Teachers College, Columbia University in New York). I thought this was hilarious and suspected someone was jokingly hinting for me to leave, so I brought it home to show Cathy. She shrugged and said, ‘Why not? Do it, might as well.’ So I applied, and just about dropped dead when I got a phone call to come out to New York for an interview.”

Dennis lived in New York and worked at Teachers College for 18 years. He joined the TC faculty in 1991 and served as Chair and later Director of the Department of Special Education. “This was the absolute highlight of my career. Living in this city was not an adjustment for me, it was instantaneous. I began at TC initially as a Department Chair. They hired me to bring in research and they had a rather large department (about 12 full professors). I was treated like a king. Did my usual… designed and organized research projects, wrote some articles and books, really got into being an instructor. All was great.”

After a successful career writing numerous articles and books, designing and implementing many projects, teaching, mentoring, and sponsoring masters and doctoral students, and helping to alter the lives of countless individuals with disabilities, naturally a move to Florida followed. This time, however, this life change was not instantaneous, and Dennis spent a few years commuting to New York so he could continue his work at TC. Eventually he settled and found this Florida lifestyle pretty nice.

Many years were spent close to his children and grandchildren, giving free reign to his obsessions of finding the perfect golf swing, returning to his joy of dancing circles around everyone, and finally being able to attempt mastering the art of playing jazz piano.

He took great pride and pleasure admiring Cathy’s own career as a bookstore Manager in New York and later dog trainer and active advocate with Southeastern Guide dogs. And it goes without saying how proud he was with all of his children’s accomplishments as each pursued his/her own version in the field of education. Overlooking their lush Florida gardens with his beloved companions, Ben and Sam, Dennis would often reflect: “I cannot believe I ended up here. Kid from Idaho…”

Dennis died of complications of diabetes and Alzheimer’s. He was 81 years old and all of his memories are cherished by his family, friends, colleagues, students, and everyone he touched throughout his life.