Russell Barkley

Barkley was born in Orange County, Newburgh, New York. He was one of five children, born to Donald Stuart Barkley (27 February 1916 – 15 June 1999) and Mildred Minerva (10 September 1914 – 25 April 2008). Barkley had a twin brother, Ronald Foster Barkley,[13][14] who was killed in a car crash on 24 July 2006. Barkley attributes his brother's history of dangerous and reckless behavior, including not wearing a seat belt and speeding at the time of his crash, to untreated ADHD.[15] Ronald was several times over the legal alcohol limit, speeding and not wearing a seat belt at the time of his fatal crash.[16]

Barkley married his wife Patricia on 15 March 1969. He graduated from school in Maryland and did a tour of duty in the US air force including a year in Vietnam. He divorced in November 2019.

Barkley earned an Associate of Arts from Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina in June 1972, and a BA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[17] He earned an MA and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.[18] From July 1976 to 1977, Barkley was an intern at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center in Portland, Oregon.[17][19]

In 1977, Dr. Barkley began his professional career at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Children's Hospital, where in 1978, he founded the Neuropsychology Service and served as its chief until 1985. He then moved to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he served as Director of Psychology from 1985 to 2000. Barkley was professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.[20][21][22] In 2005, he joined the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, where he was a consultant and research professor of psychiatry.[23][24] He taught at the Medical University of South Carolina from 2003–2016 and then moved to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, VA, where he currently occasionally teaches in the Department of Psychiatry.[3][4]

Besides his books, he has published 6 clinical rating scales related to ADHD, executive functioning, and impairment.[3][4] One of Barkley's rating scales for adult ADHD evaluates sluggish cognitive tempo.[25]

In response to critics who point to countries with lower rates of diagnoses and medication of children for ADHD, Barkley said, "So what? We do not let the rest of the world set our standards of care when we do more research on childhood disorders--specifically ADHD--than other countries combined?".[26]

Barkley is a leader in the burgeoning sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) research field.[27][28] Barkley writes "The fact that SCT is not recognized as yet in any official taxonomy of psychiatric disorders will not alter this circumstance given the growing presence of information on SCT at various widely visited internet sites such as YouTube and Wikipedia, among others."[11]

Barkley is a libertarian. He believes in "Limited government, individual rights, freedom of speech and association, and the nonaggression principle (no one, including the government, has a right to initiate force or fraud against another), and private property rights".[29]

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment.4th ed. New York: Guilford Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4625-1772-5.
• ADHD and the Nature of Self Control. New York: Guilford Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1-57230-250-1.
• Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents. New York: Guilford Press, (3rd ed.) 2013. ISBN 978-1-46250-789-4.
• With Kevin R Murphy and Mariellen Fischer. ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says. New York: Guilford Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59385-586-4.
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults: The Latest Assessment and Treatment Strategies. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7637-6564-4.
• Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. New York: Guilford Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-60623-338-2.
• Executive Functions: What They Are, How They Work, and Why They Evolved. New York: Guilford Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4625-0535-7.
• Defiant Children: a Clinician's Manual for Assessment and Parent Training, 3rd ed. New York: Guilford Publications, 2013. ISBN 978-1-57230-123-8.
• Managing ADHD in School: The Best Evidence-Based Methods for Teachers. Eau Claire, WI: PESI Publishing and Media, 2016. ISBN 978-1559570435.
• When an Adult You Love Has ADHD Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2017ISBN 9781433823084

• C. Anderson Aldrich Award, 1996, from the American Academy of Pediatrics for outstanding research in child health and human development
• Distinguished Contribution Award to Research, 1998, by the Section of Clinical Child Psychology of the American Psychological Association
• Science Dissemination Award, 2003, from the Society for Scientific Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association
• Distinguished Career Award, 2012, from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology [39]
• Lifetime Career Achievement Award, Division 53 (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology), American Psychological Association,2017.
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Children and Adults with ADHD (chadd.org), 2018.

• Official website
• ADHD Lectures by Russell Barkley