About Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D.

Dr. Barkley retired as a Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (1985-2002) and subsequently worked as a Professor of Psychiatry and Health Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (2003-2016). He taught as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (2016-2021), then continued lecturing and writing through his own business until he formally retired in 2022.

After serving in the United States Air Force from 1968 to 1972, including a tour of duty in Vietnam, he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree with Honors from the University of North Carolina in 1973. He received his Masters Degree in 1975 and his Ph.D. in 1977 with Honors in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He then attended the Oregon Health Sciences University for internship training in developmental, learning, and behavioral disorders of children. Thereafter, he joined the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Children’s Hospital where he founded the Neuropsychology Service and served as its Chief until 1985. He then moved to the University of Massachusetts Medical School (1985-2002), where he served as the Director of Psychology for more than 15 years and established the research clinics for both child and adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. In 2003, he became a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry with the Medical University of South Carolina, where he remained until 2016 when he relocated to VCU in Richmond, VA.

Dr. Barkley is a Diplomate (board certified) in three specialties, Clinical Psychology (ABPP), Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN, ABPP). He is also a Fellow in the American Psychological Association. A clinical scientist, educator, and practitioner, he has published 27 books, rating scales, and clinical manuals now numbering 43 separate editions. He has also published more than 300 scientific articles and book chapters on ADHD and related disorders. He founded The ADHD Report (Guilford), a clinical newsletter he edited for 30 years until it ended in 2022. He has created seven award winning professional videos on ADHD and defiant children. Dr. Barkley has served on the editorial boards of and as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He was the President of the Section of Clinical Child Psychology, Division 12, of the American Psychological Association (1988) [now Division 53], and was President of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (1991).

He has presented more than 800 invited lectures in more than 30 countries, and appeared on nationally televised programs including 60 Minutes, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, and many other programs. In 1994, he received the Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. In 1996, he was awarded the C. Anderson Aldrich Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for his research career in child development. In 1998, he received the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Research from the Section on Clinical Child Psychology, (now Division 53) of the American Psychological Association. In 2002, he received the Dissemination Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, Division 12, of the American Psychological Association for his career long efforts to educate the public and other professionals about the science of ADHD. In 2012 he received the Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the Division of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology of the American Psychological Association. In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Professional Society for ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD), and in 2018 he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Children and Adults with ADHD (chadd.org).