WASHINGTON -- Norman B. Anderson, PhD, has been selected as the CEO-Elect of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Anderson will become CEO on January 1, 2003, with the retirement of current CEO Raymond D. Fowler, PhD.
Trained as a practitioner and as a scientist, Dr. Anderson is currently a professor of health and social behavior at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Prior to his Harvard appointment, Anderson was the founding director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and an Associate Director at the National Institutes of Health. During Dr. Anderson's tenure from 1995 to 2000, OBSSR grew from a $2 million program to a $19 million program and organized the funding of more than $90 million in health research initiatives, including studies on cancer, heart disease, mental health and diabetes.
Dr. Anderson's research interests lie at the intersection of health and behavior and health and race. At Duke University, where he was an associate professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Psychology from 1985 - 1995, he conducted research studies on the role of stress in the development of hypertension in African Americans and directed the NIH-funded Exploratory Center for Research on Health Promotion in Older Minorities.
His priorities at APA will include bringing psychology's broad expertise to the public and policy makers and expanding the role of psychologists in our nation's healthcare system, the workplace and education.
"I am extremely excited to have been selected as the next CEO of the American Psychological Association. I look forward to working on behalf of my field and being at the forefront of increasing the use of psychological knowledge in society," Dr. Anderson said.
Anderson was selected from among nearly 100 candidates for the position.
"I am delighted with the appointment of Norman Anderson to be our next CEO," says APA President Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo. "His greatest strengths are his renaissance qualities as an educator-scientist with clinical credentials and a public interest orientation. His enormous energy and expansive vision will increase the impact of psychology for decades to come."
Anderson is the President of the Board of Directors of the Starbright Foundation and a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Drug Abuse at NIH. He is a graduate of the North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC and earned master's and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received additional clinical and research training at the Schools of Medicine at Brown and Duke Universities.
Dr. Anderson is available for interviews. Call the APA Public Affairs Office (202) 336-5700 to schedule.
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 155,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.