Dr. Richard G. Heimberg Named Winner of 2024 Alfred M. Wellner Lifetime Achievement Award for Research

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is proud to present the 2024 Alfred M. Wellner Lifetime Achievement Award for Research to Dr. Richard G. Heimberg. 

This award is named in honor of the National Register’s first Executive Officer, Alfred M. Wellner, PhD. The Wellner awards, offered for research and practice, are the highest honors bestowed by the National Register. The research excellence award honors a National Register credentialed psychologist who has made—through research—a significant lifetime contribution toward health service psychology.  

The National Register’s Awards Committee selected Dr. Heimberg for the Wellner Award for Research for his seminal research investigating the nature of social anxiety disorder (SAD) as well as the evaluation of CBT in comparison to pharmacotherapy and other forms of psychological interventions (e.g., mindfulness meditation) for SAD. 

Upon receiving the award, Dr. Heimberg said, “I am deeply honored to have received the Alfred M. Wellner Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in research from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. I have devoted most of my professional life to clinical research intended to reduce the suffering and improve the quality of life of people living with social anxiety and other anxiety disorders. I have always looked at the National Register as representing the best of our profession, and it is a validation of that effort to be recognized in this way.”  

Andrew P. Boucher, CEO of the National Register, commented on Dr. Heimberg’s distinguished career: “Richard’s accomplishments speak for themselves and align directly with our goal of honoring lifetime achievement in research—he has made important and durable contributions to the field of psychology.”  

Richard G. Heimberg, PhD, is an internationally recognized expert on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder. He is the Thaddeus L. Bolton Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University, where he founded and directed a specialty social anxiety clinic, and he was previously Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University at Albany of the State University of New York. He is past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology. He is a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, and the Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association, as well as awards from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the American Society for Group Work, Temple University, and from Florida State University (where he earned his doctoral degree in 1977). He is best known for his ground-breaking work on the nature and treatment of social anxiety disorder, and treatments based on his protocols are used around the world. Together with his colleagues, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students, he has published more than 500 articles, chapters, and books on understanding and treating anxiety. Dr. Heimberg has also been widely recognized for his commitment to the education and training of doctoral students in clinical psychology. He received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and similar awards from the Society of Clinical Psychology, the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, and the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. 

Dr. Heimberg has been credentialed by the National Register since 1987.   

About the National Register of Health Service Psychologists  

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists was established in 1974 and is the largest nonprofit credentialing organization for licensed psychologists and psychology doctoral students. The National Register is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare by identifying psychologists who meet specific education and training standards, and by verifying these professionals to consumers, healthcare organizations, and regulatory bodies. The National Register currently credentials 10,000 Health Service Psychologists and has approximately 5,000 psychology doctoral student and postdoctoral trainee members in its Associate Program. For more information, visit www.nationalregister.org.  

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For more information about this announcement, contact the National Register at 202.783.7663.