Dr. Anderson has had a wide-ranging career as a national leader, first as a scientist and tenured professor studying health equity issues and mind/body health, and later as an executive in government, non-profit, and higher education contexts.

Dr. Anderson is currently Assistant Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs, and Professor of Social Work at Florida State University (FSU). In these roles, he works with faculty and administrators to advance the research mission of the university and to facilitate the success of emerging academic leaders. Dr. Anderson created and directs the FSU Faculty Leadership Development Program, which is designed to offer leadership training to faculty across the university at different stages of their professional journeys.

Before joining FSU, Dr. Anderson served for 13 years as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Vice President of the American Psychological Association (APA), and was the second longest-serving (and first African American) CEO in the 125-year history of APA. Among APA’s numerous accomplishments during his tenure, the organization was named one of the top places to work in the Washington, DC area in 2014. Dr. Anderson retired from APA in 2015.

Prior to joining APA, Dr. Anderson was the founding Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in charge of social and behavioral science, and was the first Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). At NIH, he facilitated behavioral and social sciences research across all of the Institutes and Centers of the NIH. Under his purview was behavioral and social research in such areas as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, children’s health, mental health, minority health, aging, and oral health. His special interest at NIH was in sociocultural determinants of health, and in advancing an integrated, transdisciplinary, bio-psycho-social approach to health science, health promotion, prevention, and health care.

In addition to his formal leadership roles, Dr. Anderson served as a tenured associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine and as a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is well-known for his research and writing on health and behavior, and on racial/ethnic and economic health inequities. In addition to publishing dozens of scientific articles, Dr. Anderson is the author and editor of several books, including serving as editor-in-chief of the two-volume Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior (2003) and as co-editor of Interdisciplinary research: Case studies from health and social science (2008). For over 12 years he was editor-in-chief of APA’s flagship journal, American Psychologist. He is currently a Senior Editor of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health.

For his research, service, and leadership, he has received a number of significant awards from scientific societies and universities. Among his numerous honors, in 2012 Anderson was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies of Science. In 2013, he was inducted into the Black College Alumni Hall of Fame for his work in science. Anderson is also the recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees.

Dr. Anderson is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. He is a past-president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.