Dan Anderson

Anderson was born in Minneapolis and studied at the College of St. Thomas, where he received a B.A. degree in 1950. Starting in 1952 he worked at Willmar State Hospital. After having graduated in 1956 as a M.A. in Clinical psychology from Chicago's Loyola University, he began consulting and lecturing at Hazelden in 1957.

In 1961, he left Willmar and became vice president of Hazelden. In 1966 he received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Ottawa. In 1971, he advanced to president of Hazelden, a position he held until his retirement in 1986. He also taught for many years at the Rutgers University Summer School of Alcohol Studies and lectured frequently at the University of Minnesota Chemical Dependency Counselor Certificate Program.