Speaker Information

Global Issues 2012

Dr. Jerrold Post

Dr. Jerrold Post is Professor of Psychiatry, Political Psychology and International Affairs and Director of the Political Psychology Program at George Washington University. Dr. Post has devoted his entire career to the field of political psychology. Dr. Post came to George Washington after a 21 year career with the Central Intelligence Agency where he founded and directed the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, an interdisciplinary behavioral science unit which provided assessments of foreign leadership and decision making for the President and other senior officials to prepare for high level negotiations and for use in crisis situations.

Dr. Post has published widely on crisis decision-making, leadership, and on the psychology of political violence and terrorism. His most recent book is The Mind of a Terrorist: The Psychology of Terrorism from the IRA to al-Qaeda (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Dr. Post received his B.A. magna cum laude and M.D. from Yale. He received his post-graduate training in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Mental Health. He has also received graduate training at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.