Full Name
Dr. Arthur Evans
Job Title
CEO
Company
American Psychological Association
Speaker Bio
Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, is CEO of the American Psychological Association, the leading
scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States.
Before joining APA in March 2017, Dr. Evans spent 12 years as commissioner of Philadelphia's
$1.5 billion Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. In that post, he
emphasized a data-driven, population health approach, which improved outcomes for diverse
people with complex needs. This increased the system’s efficiency, saving more than $110
million over the course his tenure that was reinvested to improve and expand services. The
system in Philadelphia has become a national and international model, particularly for
governments desiring to improve health equity.
Prior to Philadelphia, Dr. Evans was deputy commissioner for the Connecticut Department of
Mental Health and Addiction Services, where he led major strategic initiatives that included
increasing the use of evidence-based practices, addressing health care disparities,
implementing a recovery-oriented policy framework, conducting research, and improving
community engagement.
Over the years he has received widespread recognition, including the American Medical
Association’s top government service award in healthcare, the Lisa Mojer-Torres Award from
Faces and Voices of Recovery, and the Visionary Leadership Award from the National Council
of Behavioral Health, as well as being named as an “Advocate for Action” by the White House’s
Office of National Drug Control Policy. A major emphasis of his career has been equity and
social justice and he has received multiple awards named for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for this
work.
Dr. Evans has held faculty appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine, University of
Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine,
and the Drexel School of Public Health.
Dr. Evans holds a doctorate in clinical/community psychology from the University of Maryland
and a master's degree in experimental psychology from Florida Atlantic University, where he
was inducted into the university’s Alumni Hall of Fame.
scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States.
Before joining APA in March 2017, Dr. Evans spent 12 years as commissioner of Philadelphia's
$1.5 billion Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. In that post, he
emphasized a data-driven, population health approach, which improved outcomes for diverse
people with complex needs. This increased the system’s efficiency, saving more than $110
million over the course his tenure that was reinvested to improve and expand services. The
system in Philadelphia has become a national and international model, particularly for
governments desiring to improve health equity.
Prior to Philadelphia, Dr. Evans was deputy commissioner for the Connecticut Department of
Mental Health and Addiction Services, where he led major strategic initiatives that included
increasing the use of evidence-based practices, addressing health care disparities,
implementing a recovery-oriented policy framework, conducting research, and improving
community engagement.
Over the years he has received widespread recognition, including the American Medical
Association’s top government service award in healthcare, the Lisa Mojer-Torres Award from
Faces and Voices of Recovery, and the Visionary Leadership Award from the National Council
of Behavioral Health, as well as being named as an “Advocate for Action” by the White House’s
Office of National Drug Control Policy. A major emphasis of his career has been equity and
social justice and he has received multiple awards named for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for this
work.
Dr. Evans has held faculty appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine, University of
Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine,
and the Drexel School of Public Health.
Dr. Evans holds a doctorate in clinical/community psychology from the University of Maryland
and a master's degree in experimental psychology from Florida Atlantic University, where he
was inducted into the university’s Alumni Hall of Fame.
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