We dedicate this episode to Rowland, his family and friends. We miss him and wanted to take the time to re-release an episode we recorded last year.
Rowland Savage grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with his sister, Patricia; mother, Dorothea; and father, Milton. He entered the seminary as a young man and later switched to different academic pursuits. After attending St. Charles, he received his B. A. from Mount St. Mary's College in 1967; M.S. from Johns Hopkins University in 1974; and an advanced degree in C.A.S.E., Clinical Theory and Therapy from Johns Hopkins University in 1978. He began his professional career as a teacher at Towson Catholic High School. He was drawn by a need to help young people, so he pursued his licensure as a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Within the Baltimore County Public Schools system, he became Department Chair, Supervisor, and then Coordinator for the Office of Guidance and Counseling Services where he provided supervision and program leadership for over 250 school counselors serving 162 schools.
Rowland was a sought-after national public speaker and an expert on many topics including youth suicide prevention, crisis management, bereavement counseling, traumatic loss, conflict resolution, peer helper training, and personality disorders. He was involved in numerous teaching roles as an adjunct instructor at Johns Hopkins University, Towson State University, Goucher College, and Loyola College. Rowland was the recipient of the Governor’s Citation for Service in Support of Youth Suicide Prevention, 1996; Excellence in Teaching Award, Johns Hopkins University, 1999; Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Suicide Prevention, 2001; and the Maryland School Counselor Association’s Counseling Advocate, 2004. Upon his retirement in 2005 from his position as Coordinator for the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of School Counseling, Rowland received recognition from the County and Maryland State Department of Education commending him for his 38 years of dedicated support to their students.