Dr. David Walsh

Committed to the belief that we must work to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media's impact on children, David Walsh, Ph.D., founded the National Institute on Media and the Family in 1996. As President, Dr. Walsh spearheads the Institute's efforts to provide information about media to parents, teachers, and other concerned adults-through education, research, and advocacy.

Psychologist, educator, family therapist, author, speaker, husband, and father of three, David Walsh is one of the leading authorities in North America on family life, parenting, and the impact of media on children. He is also a leading voice in addressing the issues of media's impact on brain development in children.

Dr. Walsh is: the spokesperson for the American Medical Association's media violence campaign; a participant in the "Safe From the Start" summit hosted by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, and the Vice President's national round table on "Media's Effect on Children;" author of several books including, Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits Before Values and What Parents Can Do; and has joined forces with Target stores' Take Charge of Education Program™ by creating "Dr. Dave's Family Favorites," a recommended reading list for children ages 1 - 18. Walsh is also a frequent guest on national programs such as: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer; Dateline NBC; CBS This Morning; and National Public Radio. His editorials have appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Walsh's seminal work on the impact of the media on society, Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits Before Values And What Parents Can Do (Fairview Press, 1994), was widely hailed as a ground-breaking book in identifying the full scope of violence in the media as a major national public health issue. His first book, Designer Kids (Deaconess Press, 1990) looked at how children are affected by America's obsession with consumerism and competition. In his latest book Why Do They Act That Way: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen (Free Press, 2004), Dr. Walsh explains exactly what happens to the human brain on the path from childhood into adolescence and adulthood.

Before founding the National Institute on Media and the Family, Walsh was the executive director of clinics and systems operations for Fairview Behavioral Services, a division of Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis. He has been affiliated with Fairview for more than 20 years, serving as Director of Behavior Services, chemical dependency services, treatment programs, a family renewal center, and outpatient counseling services. Fairview Health Services has had a long-standing commitment to strengthening families and the community, and is a founding sponsor of the National Institute on Media and the Family.

Dr. Walsh is on the faculty of University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota, and has published many articles in the professional and general press. He is active in many professional associations and is a Licensed Psychologist in the State of Minnesota.

Dr. Walsh is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1999 Minnesota Council on Family Relations' Friend of the Family Award; Minnesota Medical Association's 1995 Stop the Violence Award; the 1995 Community Service Award presented by the Jewish Community Center of Minneapolis for efforts on behalf of children; the Harriet Burns Award for Professional Psychology, presented by the University of St. Thomas to the outstanding Minnesota Psychologist in 1992; and the 1992 Wheel Forum Award for contributors to family life education. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Minnesota Psychological Association.

David Walsh lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Monica, and has three grown children.

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