PTSD Expert Tulane University

Dr. Charles Figley is the Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health and a Tulane University Graduate School of Social Work Professor.  He is also director of the award-winning Traumatology Institute which is recognized as the best program of its kind by the University Continuing Education Association.  Dr. Figley is an internationally celebrated expert in traumatology.  He has a long and distinguished record of success in academia, most recently as Fulbright Fellow and Professor of Social Work at Florida State University where he earned the President’s Continuing Education Award and Professor of the Year from the School of Social Work Students’ Association.

Dr. Figley is also a psychologist and family therapist.  Previously he was the Professor of Family Therapy and Psychology at Purdue University.  Professor Figley received both graduate degrees from Pennsylvania State University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii, all in the interdisciplinary field of human development.

Dr. Figley has advanced his field through his scholarly pursuits, authoring more than over 200 scholarly works, most which focus on stress, including the book series Psychological Stress.  Also, he is the founding editor for the professional journals Traumatology and the Journal of Traumatic Stress and the Journal of Family Psychotherapy.

Dr. Figley has improved the lives of countless soldiers and civilians through his humanitarian service for those in the path of armed conflict, including groundbreaking work with Vietnam veterans that led to the establishment of the diagnosis Post Traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD, and is the creator of a national outreach program for Vietnam veterans within the Veteran’s Administration.  In response to the lingering problems faced by Vietnam combat veterans and their families, Dr. Figley established the Vietnam Veteran Family Project which sought the most effective and efficient ways of helping these families cope and live happier lives.  He is widely recognized as the world thought leader in areas of PTSD in relation to veterans returning from combat.

Dr. Figley has also done considerable work with nongovernmental organizations in the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Africa, and served as a founder of the Green Cross Foundation, a humanitarian organization providing rehabilitative assistance to communities experiencing overwhelming traumatic events which was established following the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Dr. Figley has received dozens of awards throughout his long career.  Perhaps the most gratifying was his selection by the leading traumatology organization in the world, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, as its final winner of its coveted Pioneer Award that recognizes traumatologists whose lifetime achievement substantially advanced the field.  Other notable awards include:

• Donna Cox Bridger Endowed Lectureship in Nursing and Health Care, University of Alabama, 2006
• Humanitarian of the Year Award, University of Missouri International Psychosocial Trauma Center, 2006
• Frontiers of Science Lecturer, University of Ottawa, 2005
• Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Critical Stress Foundation, 2005
• Academic Keys Who’s Who in Social Science Education, 2005
• Alumni Fellow, Elected by the Pennsylvania State University, 2004
• Fulbright Research Fellowship, 2003
• Distinguished Service to Families Award, the National Council on Family Relations (co-recipient with Kathleen Regan Figley), November 2001
• Shaffer Research Award, National Organization for Victim’s Assistance highest honor to a researcher, 2000
• Florida Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s Community Service Award, 2000

Dr. Figley is married to Kathleen Regan Figley and has two daughters.

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