Alan Leshner (Chair, Neuroscience Forum)

Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of its journal, Science. Previously Dr. Leshner had been Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Before that, he held a variety of senior positions at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Leshner began his career at Bucknell University, where he was Professor of Psychology. Dr. Leshner is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, and a fellow of AAAS, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was appointed by the U.S. President to the National Science Board, and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH. He received an A.B. in Psychology from Franklin and Marshall College and M.S. and Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from Rutgers University. Dr. Leshner also holds honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Franklin and Marshall College and the Pavlov Medical University in St. Petersburg, Russia.