Board of Directors

M. David Rudd

Dean of Social and Behavioral Science, University of Utah

M. David Rudd is Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Utah and scientific director for the National Center for Veterans Studies at the U. His undergraduate degree is from Princeton University. He completed his doctoral training at the University of Texas-Austin and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive therapy at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia under the direction of Aaron T. Beck. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a Fellow of three professional societies, including the American Psychological Association (Division 12 and Division 29), the International Association of Suicide Research, and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (a founding fellow). He was recently elected a Distinguished Practitioner and Scholar of the National Academies of Practice in Psychology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Rudd is an active researcher with over 170 publications. He is currently conducting a $1.97 million clinical trial for suicidal soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado. He has authored several books, including Treating Suicidal Behavior (2001, Guilford, 2^nd printing in 2004) and Suicide Science: Expanding the Boundaries (2001, Kluwer Academic Publishers), The Assessment and Management of Suicidality: A Pocket Guide (Professional Resource Press, 2006) and the recently released The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (with Joiner, VanOrden, & Witte) from the American Psychological Association Press. His research has been recognized with awards both national and international.  He has served as a consultant to many organizations nationally and internationally, including the United States Air Force, the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense and the Beijing Suicide Prevention and Research Center. Dr. Rudd serves on a number of editorial boards, is past Chair of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, past President of the Texas Psychological Association, past President of Division 12 Section VII of the American Psychological Association, past Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology, a previous members of the APA Council of Representatives, and currently serves as vice-president of the PDV Foundation. Dr. Rudd has testified four times before the U.S. Congress, both House and Senate, on issues related to veterans and suicide.

Board of Directors

Robert Holyer

Senior Consultant, AGB Search

Robert Holyer is Senior Consultant with AGB Search.  Dr. Holyer received a BA from Bethel College (St. Paul, Minnesota), a BD from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His academic specialty is the philosophy of religion; he has published on issues of religious epistemology, Pascal, Newman, C.S. Lewis, and, more recently, issues of punishment and forgiveness.  He has taught at the University of Virginia, Converse College, and Lyon College.  At the University of Virginia he was recognized on the Dean’s List for Distinguished Teaching; at Lyon he received the Williamson Prize for Faculty Excellence.

Holyer has served as chief academic officer at Lyon College, Randolph-Macon College, and Presbyterian College.  He also served as Acting President at Randolph-Macon.  The focus of his administrative work has been strengthening liberal education, curricular and pedagogical renewal, assessment, faculty development, student research, planning, and international education.  He has served both as a board member and as chair of the board of the Wye Seminars; he was also a coordinator of the Council of Independent Colleges New CAO Workshop.  He is a frequent presenter and writer on issues in higher education.