The Jed Foundation

Morton M. Silverman, MD is currently the Senior Advisor to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and Senior Medical Advisor to The Jed Foundation. From October 2002 until January 2003 he served as the Director of SPRC.

Dr. Silverman served as the first Chief of the Center for Prevention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (1983-1985), and then served as the first Associate Administrator for Prevention in the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (1985-1987). From 1987-2002, he was an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Dean of Students in the University, and Director of the Student Counseling and Resource Service, all at the University of Chicago. He currently is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Silverman served as the Senior Scientific Editor and Writer for the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action (2001). He has been a consultant to the Department of Health and Human Services Federal Steering Group to implement the U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. He serves as a Temporary Advisor to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence of the World Health Organization and consults on the development of national suicide prevention programs. Since 1996, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, the scientific journal of the American Association of Suicidology. In 2002, he became an elected member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Scientific Council. In addition he serves as Education Consultant to the Denver Veterans Administration in the area of suicide prevention.

Dr. Silverman is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. He is the co-author or author of over 30 peer-reviewed publications, and over 25 book and monograph chapters on the topics of college student mental health, disease prevention, health promotion, alcohol and other drug abuse, suicide, and standards of care. He is the co-editor or co-author of 5 books on topics related to the field of suicidology, including The Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology (2000), and Adolescent Suicide: Assessment and Intervention (2006). He is the 2005 recipient of the Louis I. Dublin Award from the American Association of Suicidology, for “outstanding service and contributions to the field of suicide prevention as evidenced by leadership, devotion and creativity.”

He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (1969) and received his MD degree from Northwestern University in 1974. In 1978, Dr. Silverman completed his residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.