Gerald Davison

Gerald C. Davison is Professor of Psychology and Gerontology at the University of Southern California, where he has held faculty positions since 1979. He earned his A.B. in Social Relations from Harvard University in 1961 magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, a degree in Psychology from the University of Freiburg, Germany in 1962, and Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1965. Previously at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1966 to 1979, he served as Director of the Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at USC from 1979 to 1984, Chair of the Department of Psychology from 1984 to 1990 and 2001 to 2006, Interim Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication from 1994 to 1996, Interim Dean of the School of Architecture from 2005 to 2006, and William and Sylvia Kugel Dean’s Chair, Dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and Executive Director of the Andrus Gerontology Center from 2007 to 2012. His research specializations include cognitive assessment and cognitive behavior therapy for anxiety, depression, and other problems; political, philosophical, and ethical issues in clinical psychology; and experimental and philosophical analyses of psychopathology, assessment, and therapeutic change, with a current focus on relationships between cognition and behavioral and emotional problems using the articulated thoughts in simulated situations paradigm. Davison has authored more than 150 publications, including the textbook Abnormal Psychology (13th edition, 2015, co-authored with Ann Kring, John Neale, and Sheri Johnson; translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Korean), Clinical Behavior Therapy (1976, co-authored with Marvin Goldfried; recognized as a Citation Classic; reissued expanded 1994; translated into German and Spanish), Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology (9th edition, 2012, co-authored with Oltmanns, Neale, and Martin), and Exploring Abnormal Psychology (1996, co-authored with Neale and Haaga).

Davison has received numerous awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (2003), USC Mellon Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2005), Distinguished Scientist Award from the California Psychological Association (2016), Outstanding Educator Award from the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (1997), USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching (1993), Albert S. Raubenheimer Distinguished Faculty Award (1989), and Outstanding Achievement Award from APA’s Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility (1988). He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society, and Distinguished Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. Davison has served as past president of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the Society of Clinical Psychology (APA Division 12), on editorial boards of journals such as Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Therapy and Research, and on committees including the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance and the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on the Aging Society.

Professional Email: gdaviso@usc.edu