Erwin J. Haeberle,
XV. DGSS Congress in Lüneburg, June 23, 2002

Laudation for Dr. William Granzig

Dear Bill,

we have known each other now for well over 25 years. We first met in San Francisco in the late 1970’s, when you organized some continuing education courses in sexology for the American College of  Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The exact date escapes me, but I do remember our discussions about the need to teach the doctors about sex. Today, this need is greater than ever, but you can be proud of the fact that you were one of the pioneers in this field.

Later, as president of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, you headed an organization devoted to establishing and certifying sexological standards. I remember you inviting me to one of your congresses in Wahington, D.C. where, for the first time in the US,  I spoke about the German Jewish pioneers of sexology. Indeed, you helped me by having a large poster for my presentation professionally prepared. It was a color scheme of prisoner markings in Nazi concentration camps that included two sexual categories of inmates – the so-called race defilers and the homosexuals. Indeed, you had two identical posters made, and thus I was able to donate one of them to the Holocaust Memorial Council, which, at that time, was preparing the Washington Holocaust Museum. They thanked me with wonderful letter, which I had framed, and which I am still keeping in our Archive.

Finally, in 1983, at the World Congress of Sexology in Washington, DC,  of which you were the president and chief organizer, you gave me an opportunity to present a whole exhibition about the “Birth of Sexology in Berlin”. This exhibition was so successful that it was subsequently shown all over Europe and even in China.

In the meantime, you have been invited to China yourself and have taught successful classes in Beijing. After all, for over 15 years now you have been the driving force behind the American Board of Sexology (ABS), a certifying body  that provides quality assurance to consumers in the area of clinical sexology. This was a decisive step in building public trust and improving the qualifications of  sex therapists and sex counselors, first in the USA and then in the rest of the world. Today, the ABS has over 1500 certified members in 26 countries. About 95% of these hold doctoral degrees.

 In 1994, you also also founded the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists (AACS) in order to provide comprehensive clinical sexology training and supervision. The Academy, in cooperation with with Maimonides University (North Miami Beach, Florida), then created a joint Ph.D. program in clinical sexology.  Students from all regions of the U.S. and a number of other countries have enrolled.  Currently, there are over fifty doctoral students joining hundreds of non-degree students.  This graduate training provides students with the necessary special understanding of the legal and social responsibilities of clinical sexologists and makes them aware of their opportunities to impact public opinion and future legislation in the area of sexuality.

In short, as long as I have known you, you have been a major champion of sexual reform in the USA with an ever-increasing influence in other countries. You therefore clearly deserve this honor we bestow upon you today. May it  support your continuing efforts, and may it   inspire your students  to follow your example.