Gresham, Frank M. (1949–)

Frank Gresham was born in the small town of Greenville, South Carolina, in April 1949. As a young man growing up in Simpsonville, South Carolina, Frank was a good football player and was offered a scholarship to play football for a small local college. However, Frank had other plans and left home to pursue his college education.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Georgia State University in 1973. He then went on to the University of South Carolina (USC), where he earned his M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling. While working as a counseling coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, he went on to earn his PhD in psychology from USC.

After receiving his PhD, Dr. Gresham accepted a position at Iowa State University. Two years later, he was asked to become the director of the School Psychology Program at Louisiana State University. Dr. Gresham held this position for 8 years and published dozens of articles in the areas of applied behavior analysis, social skills, and behavioral consultation. As a result of his extraordinary research, he was given the Lightner Witmer Award in 1982. The highly coveted Lightner Witmer Award is given by the American Psychological Association (APA) for outstanding research contributions by a school psychologist. In 1985, he was recognized as a Fellow by both the APA and the APA's Division of School Psychology.

In 1989, Dr. Gresham accepted a position as the director of the Combined Clinical and School Psychology Program at Hofstra University. His most notable accomplishment during his 2 years at Hofstra University was to co-author the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). The SSRS is used frequently by school psychologists throughout the United States and abroad for the assessment of children experiencing social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. In 1991, Dr. Gresham accepted a position as the director of the School Psychology Program at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). During his 14 years at UCR, Dr. Gresham continued to publish research articles and chapters at an unparalleled rate. He was the recipient of eight federally funded grants for the study of learning disabilities, literacy, and emotional and behavioral disorders, and he received many honors for his scholarly work and research, including the Senior Scientist Award by the APA and the rank of Distinguished Professor.

Currently, the field of school psychology is undergoing a major paradigm shift in the identification of children with learning disabilities. The Response-to-Intervention model proposed by Dr. Gresham to the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs in 2001 was recently approved by the U.S. Congress to replace the traditional discrepancy model used for identifying learning disabilities for the past 30 years.

In addition to his work as a researcher, teacher, and mentor, Dr. Gresham was appointed as an expert witness to the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Dr. Gresham is also a consultant to state psychological associations in more than 45 states, as well as Canada and Australia.

Dr. Frank Gresham continues to be one of the most respected and prolific scholars of our time in the field of school psychology.

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