a course "Helping Graduate Students Learn To Teach" and became an active member of the American Sociological Association's unique program on teaching sociology. The American Sociological Association D'Antonio served as Executive Officer of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Washington, D.C. from 1982 to 1991. Throughout his terms in office at the ASA, D'Antonio worked hard to lead national discussions on the value of undergraduate teaching and to develop resources for improving the quality of classroom teaching. This was a major paradigm shift for higher education in the USA and around the world. As a member of the ASA Teaching Projects, circa 1976-1986, he contributed to the debates on how research and teaching were rewarded in higher education. Up to this point, there were higher rewards for research, so teaching had been taken less seriously. D'Antonio's status as a leading sociologist and director of the ASA provided the credibility needed to change this. When D'Antonio first arrived at the ASA in Washington, Ronald Reagan was President, and the country was dealing with Reaganomics. The Reagan Administration had been trying to cut the social sciences from Federal programs such as the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Institute of Mental Health. Many of these cuts included Sociological research. To combat those cuts, D'Antonio supported the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). This newly forming, Washington based advocacy group represented all Social and Behavioral sciences. In 1986 he became the Chair of their governing board, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. By then, D'Antonio's outspoken advocacy work on behalf of social science research helped COSSA grow to include membership from another 50 universities. Their annual meetings attracted members of Congress, national scholars, and members of President George H.W. Bush's cabinet. One such member, Dr. D. Allan Bromley, was a distinguished Yale Physics professor and the President's Science Advisor. Dr. Bromley publicly upheld his belief that "the social sciences will have as large a role to play in the next two decades of world history as will the other sciences and engineering. (P 167, Observing, A Collection of writings in ASA Footnotes by William V. D'Antonio, 1991.) In June, 1991, the National Science Foundation voted to allow the Social and Behavioral Sciences to have their own Directorate, a dramatic change from the time D'Antonio took over as ASA's Executive Officer in 1982. In 1989,