Richard Jessor Distinguished Lecture on Health and Society

Richard “Dick” Jessor, Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Science, began his career in 1951 in CU Boulder’s Department of Psychology and is the longest-serving faculty member in CU history. His influential “Problem Behavior Theory” is a social-psychological conceptual framework emphasizing person-environment interaction and the social definition of problem behavior. Jessor directed the MacArthur Foundation Research Network Successful Adolescent Development among Youth in High-Risk Settings, 1987–1997. In 2005, he received the Outstanding Achievement in Adolescent Medicine Award from the Society for Adolescent Medicine. The Jessor Distinguished Lecture was established in 2018 with a presentation by Sir Michael Marmot on Social Justice, Social Determinants, and Health Equity. Other presenters have included Delbert Elliot (2021) and Kate Cagney (2023).

The Jessor Distinguished Lecture is supported in part by CUPC, with the majority of funding from IBS and the Program on Health & Society.