Douglas H. Powell

Douglas Hyde Powell, Ed.D., ABPP, has been a therapist, teacher, consultant and author. Presently he holds an appointment as a Clinical Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, and is a Consultant in Psychology at McLean Hospital. Powell also advises undergraduates and is on the Board of Honors Tutors in the Department of Psychology. He has taught courses on the Aging Mind and Body at Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast University,

For four decades Powell counseled younger and older members of the Harvard community at the University Health Services. During this time he founded a Cambridge-based psychological consulting group, which is now Powell and Wagner Associates.

Clinical research has been a passion too. Powell's last three books have been about cognitive aging. His most recent book, The Aging Intellect, was published by Routledge. He is also the co-author of MicroCog, a computerized test designed to diagnose mild cognitive impairment. He is presently studying the effect of subclinical anxiety on attention and memory in the elderly. Powell's works have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Japanese and Arabic.

Powell has provided expert commentary for NPR and the BBC. He has been featured in People Magazine, and was a guest of the Today Show and Oprah Winfrey. Powell was a Scholar in Residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Center in Bellagio, Italy, a People to People delegate to the People's Republic of China, and has been appointed to the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program.

Dr. Powell has always been drawn to flying. During his Air Force years he evaluated astronaut candidates for the Gemini and Apollo programs, some of whom were the first to walk on the moon. He has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wilford Hall, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. He chaired the Behavioral Health group on a National Academy of Science Committee to advise NASA on caring for the behavioral health of astronauts during lengthy travel into deep space.

Raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Powell received his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University and doctorate from Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science.