ABOUT US

Scientific Advisors

Leonard Bickman, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Mental Health Policy
Vanderbilt University

Leonard Bickman, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Public Policy.  He is director of the Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement and Associate Dean for Research at Peabody College.  He earned his Ph.D. in psychology (social) from the City University of New York, his master's degree in experimental psychopathology from Columbia University and his bachelor's from the City College of New York.  Professor Bickman is a nationally recognized leader in program evaluation and mental healthservices research on children and adolescents.  He has published more than 15 books and monographs and 180 articles and chapters and has been principal investigator on over 25 major grants from several agencies.  He is co-editor of the Applied Research Methods Series published by Sage Publications since 1980.  He is also co-editor of the Handbook of Applied Social Research and is collaborating on a new International Handbook of Social Research. He is the co-author of the very popular book Applied Research Design: A Practical Guide.

His standing in this field has been recognized by the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to the Department of Health and Human Services by the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy and Vanderbilt University's Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research.  He is past president of the American Evaluation Association and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.  Professor Bickman is the founding editor of a journal published by Kulwer Publishers called Mental Health Services Research.  He is currently conducting research for the Department of Education on the evaluation of a character education program, the State of New York on home-based services for children, an evaluation of the Clinical Informatics Consult Service funded by the National Library of Medicine and two NIMH funded grants on how to improve mental health services through feedback to clinicians.  His other major interests include the development of a web-based measurement system for outcomes and research on therapeutic alliance.