Featured Speaker, Kohlberg Memorial Lecture

James Comer, MD, MPH

Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry
Yale Child Study Center

James P. Comer, MD, is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Atudy Center in New Haven, Connecticut. He is known nationally and internationally for his creation in 1968 of the Comer School Development Program (SDP), the forerunner of most modern school-reform efforts.

He is the author of nine books, including Maggie's American Dream and Leave No Child Behind. His pioneering work in school restructuring has been featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, and television reports, and published in many academic journals. He is a co-founder and past president of the Black Psychiatrists of America, and has served on the board of several universities, foundations, and corporations. He was a consultant to Children’s Television Workshop and has served as a consultant, committee member, advisory board member, and trustee to numerous local and national organizations serving children. He is currently co-chair of the NCATE National Expert Panel on Increasing the Application of Knowledge About Child and Adolescent Development in Educator Preparation Programs.

A member of the Institute of Medicine of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Comer has received 46 honorary degrees, including three in 2008 from Harvard University, Lesley University, and Sacred Heart University. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the John & Mary Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine Award, Rockefeller Public Service Award, Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education, Heinz Award for the Human Condition, John Hope Franklin Award, and, most recently, University of Louisville 2007 Grawemeyer Award for Education.