Lochman Named Interim Director of Life Research Institute

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. John E. Lochman, a psychologist at The University of Alabama, will be the interim director of the Alabama Life Research Institute, announced Dr. Kevin Whitaker, UA executive vice president and provost.

Professor and Doddridge Saxon Chair in Clinical Psychology and director of the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems, Lochman will lead the newly formed institute that uses researchers from across campus to investigate the human condition at all levels.

“Through his distinguished career, John has displayed a commitment to helping improve the lives of not only his patients, but of countless others through his service to education and research in psychology,” Whitaker said. “His guidance will be a steady hand in developing a vision for collaborative research encompassing the University’s strengths.”

In a response to indicators of poor health across Alabama, the Board of Trustees formally established the Alabama Life Research Institute in February. The institute intends to improve efforts in basic and applied research into the human condition. The goal is to improve life, reduce unnecessary illness and avoidable death, and eliminate health inequalities.

An umbrella organization, the ALRI will encourage and facilitate collaboration across campus, with other institutions, government agencies, community-based organization and the healthcare and biotechnology industries.

Recognized internationally as an expert in aggression in children, Lochman is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology by the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and is a licensed psychologist in Texas, North Carolina and Alabama.

Lochman joined the UA faculty in 1998 after 18 years of service at Duke University Medical Center, earning full professor at Duke University in 1996. He remains an adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke.

At UA, he was named director of the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems in 2006.

He has more than 400 publications to his credit and has been affiliated with grant awards of more than $50 million over his career.

Lochman is the recipient of many honors and awards including the 2005 Frederick Moody Blackmon-Sarah McCorkle Moody Outstanding Professor Award at UA and the 2008 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.

He is a fellow with several organizations including the American Psychological Association, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Academy of Cognitive Therapy, American Academy of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and the Association for Psychological Science. In 2014, the American Board of Professional Psychology honored him with an Award for Distinguished Service and Contributions to the Profession of Psychology.

In recognition of research on childhood aggression and preventive interventions, the Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands, awarded Lochman an honorary doctorate in 2004.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1971 from Purdue University and master’s in psychology and doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1973 and 1977, respectively.