V. Mark Durand, PhD , is known worldwide as an authority in the area of autism spectrum disorder. He is a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP), where he was the founding dean of arts and sciences and vice chancellor for academic affairs. He was awarded the University Award for Excellence in Teaching at University at Albany, State University of New York in 1991 and in 2007 was given the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship at the USFSP. Dr. Durand is currently a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the Autism Society of America and an APA fellow. He is the coeditor of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions and has written more than 100 research publications and 10 books, including abnormal psychology textbooks that are used at more than 1,000 universities world-wide.

Major themes in Dr. Durand's research include the assessment and treatment of severe behavior problems for children and adults with autism, parent training, and the development of treatments for child sleep problems. He developed one of the most popular functional behavioral assessment instruments used today, the Motivation Assessment Scale, which has been translated into 15 languages. Recently, he developed an innovative approach to help families work with their challenging children and published a guide for parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder, Optimistic Parenting: Hope and Help for You and Your Challenging Child , which has won several national awards.