Southern Miss Professor named Lightner Witmer Award winner

Dr. Keith Radley, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi, was named the 2017 Lightner Witmer Award winner by the American Psychological Association's Division of School Psychology.

Each year the Division of School Psychology presents the Lightner Witmer Award to young professionals and academic school psychologists who have demonstrated scholarship that merits special recognition. Continuing scholarship, rather than a thesis or dissertation alone, is the primary consideration in making the award, and a person does not need a doctorate to be eligible.

Dr. Radley has published 37 papers during his career. His research focuses on interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), social skills training, peer-mediated interventions, and class wide interventions for increasing academic engagement. He is director of the Southern Miss Autism Research and Treatment (SMART) Lab, which provides assessment and intervention services to children with autism spectrum disorders.

“There is not a more deserving faculty member. Dr. Radley is a distinguished colleague who represents the School Psychology Program, the department, the college, and the university well,” said Dr. Joe Olmi, professor and chair of the USM Department of Psychology. “He is an outstanding scholar whose research is significant to the practice of serving families and children with ASD. We are proud to have Dr. Radley as part of our department.”

Dr. Radley teaches graduate courses in psychoeducational assessment and supervises clinic and school-based practicum. He also teaches undergraduate courses in child and developmental psychology.

For information about the Southern Miss Department of Psychology, visit https://www.usm.edu/psychology.