Donald Neil Bersoff (born March 1, 1939) is an American psychologist, attorney and academic. He was the president of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

(APA) in 2013. Before being elected president, Bersoff served as APA general counsel and held several leadership positions within the organization. He has been a faculty member at several law schools and he developed the nation's second joint graduate program in psychology and law. Bersoff has written four editions of a popular book on ethics and psychology.

Biography

Career

Donald Bersoff earned BS, MA and Ph.D degrees from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, completing the PhD in 1965. He practiced clinical psychology for several years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

, in private practice and as director of a college counseling center. He was a psychology professor at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. In 1976, Bersoff graduated from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

and joined the law school faculties at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. He led a joint PhD/JD program in psychology and law at Johns Hopkins. From 1979 to 1989, Bersoff provided legal counsel to the APA, first as in-house general counsel and then through the firms of Jenner and Block and Ennis, Friedman and Bersoff. In 1990, he became director of the psychology and law program at

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

, where he is now an emeritus professor of law. Bersoff was elected president of the APA in 2013, and he is the first lawyer practitioner to hold the office. He served three terms on the APA Council of Representatives. Bersoff is a past president of the

American Psychology-Law Society American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, a division of the APA, and was also chair of the Law and Mental Disability Section of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) n ...

. He has written more than 100 publications and has authored all four editions of ''Ethical Conflicts in Psychology''. As APA president, he created the Bersoff Presidential Award to Multicultural Programs to recognize psychology graduate programs that recruit and train ethnic minorities.

Honors and awards

*Presidential Citation for Distinguished Service, American Psychological Association *Lifetime Contribution Award, American Psychology-Law Society *Ethics Educator of the Year, Pennsylvania Psychological Association

Publications

*''Ethical Conflicts in Psychology'' (4th ed.). American Psychological Association (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bersoff, Donald N. American lawyers Presidents of the American Psychological Association 1939 births Living people New York University alumni Yale Law School alumni Drexel University faculty Villanova University faculty Ohio State University faculty University of Georgia faculty University of Maryland, College Park faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty

Biography

Career

Honors and awards

Publications

See also

References