Speakers - AWC 2024

Biography

Joel H. Brown, Ph.D., M.S.W., is a researcher/practitioner with internationally recognized experience in prevention science, helping to lead the shift from risk to strengths-focused development through research and application of resilience as a skill set. As a senior scientist with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and founding/directing the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD.org), he has also successfully served as Professor at the University of Oklahoma and San Diego State University, respectively.
With several books, myriad publications in top tier journals and participation on editorial boards such as the Journal of Drug Education, Brown has developed millions in support while leading some of the United States’ largest and most comprehensive prevention efforts; this, while collaborating with numerous non-governmental and governmental agencies across the U.S., and with Canadian and European Union (EU) governments, among many.
Brown helped establish resiliency and substance use prevention benchmarks with for example, the federal government’s National Center for the Advancement of Prevention (NCAP), San Francisco Department of Public Health, as well as consulting with many agencies such as Aspen Institute and Conrad Hilton Foundation, among others.
Amid myriad keynote and plenary addresses, his findings are shared with audiences ranging from Her Royal Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden to the New York Bar Association, Heidelberg University, Germany, University of Oslo, Norway, Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford to name a few. His work has been widely discussed by nearly every major media outlet in the U.S., including the New York Times and he has collaborated with the U.S. Congress.
Along with the skills of a clinical practitioner—in addition to his work being recognized by the National Academy of Sciences—he has received numerous awards for this innovative and distinguished research. Brown earned complementary degrees from several Universities of California, in Education (MA, Ph.D), Medical Social Services (MSW) and Health/Social Psychology (BA), respectively.