• G. Terence Wilson
  • G. Terence Wilson
  • Oscar Krisen Buros Professor
  • Phone: 1.8484453983
  • Office: GSAPPA349/Eating Disorders
  • Campus: Busch/Livingston
  • Areas: Clinical Psychology

Terry Wilson received B.A. and B.A. Hons degrees from Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa (1965, 1966), and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1971).  At Rutgers he is the Oscar K Buros Professor of Psychology and  a member of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. He was twice a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford (1976-77 and 1990-91), and visiting professor at Stanford University in 1980.  He has co-authored or co-edited a number of books, including Evaluation of behavior therapy: issues, evidence and research strategies (with Alan Kazdin, 1978) and Binge eating: Nature, assessment, and treatment (with Chris Fairburn, 1993), and has published numerous scientific articles.  He was the Editor-in-Chief (2002-2015) of Behaviour Research and Therapy, the leading international journal on cognitive behavior therapy.  

A former president of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (1980-81), he has received several honors and awards among which are the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology Award from Division 12 of the American Psychological Association (1994), an Award from the Latin American Association for Behavior Analysis and Modification for Distinguished Contributions to Behavioral Science (1996), the Leadership Award for Research from the Academy of Eating Disorders (2008), and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in 2008.  In 2012 he received the Aaron T. Beck Award from the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.   Most recently he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Eating Disorders (2013) and is the 2014 recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Award for the Application of Psychology from the American Psychological Association. 

Throughout his career he has focused on the application of social learning/social cognitive theory to the analysis and treatment of clinical problems. A particular research interest has been clinical research on the development and evaluation of cognitive behavioral therapy and analysis of psychological mechanisms of change. The treatment of eating and weight disorders has been a major focus of his research. Currently he is involved in three major projects on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatment.  In the U.S. he is principal investigator in a NIMH-funded grant (in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford and Washington University Medical School) on implementation strategies in the treatment of eating disorders in college counseling centers.  He is also currently involved in two major international projects that are designed to transform the traditional training model for practitioners and increase accessibility of mental health services for people in need.  At the Centre for Research on Dissemination at Oxford University (CREDO-2) in the U.K., he is part of a Wellcome Trust funded project designed to develop internet-based training in evidence-based CBT of the treatment of bulimia nervosa and depression.  He is a member of PREMIUM (Program for Effective Mental Health Interventions in Under-Resourced Health Systems) – an initiative of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Public Health Foundation of India which is funded by the Wellcome Trust. The goal is to develop and implement culturally appropriate, feasible, acceptable, affordable, and effective psychological treatments for mental disorders in under-resourced settings.

One of his primary commitments – and sources of positive reinforcement - at Rutgers University has been mentoring select graduate students to become successful clinical researchers and skilled, evidence-based therapists. Several of his former doctoral students have gone on to achieve national distinction in the field of clinical psychology.