Ronald Roesch

Ronald Roesch (born May 25, 1947) is a professor of psychology and director of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University. Roesch obtained a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1977 and a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University in 1971. His research and clinical work is in the area of forensic psychology. His research on competency to stand trial won awards from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the Society of Consulting Psychology, and the American Bar Association. He has authored 14 books and over 150 journal articles and book chapters. In addition to competency, his research focuses on mental health issues in the criminal justice system. He is licensed to practice as a psychologist in Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia.

Roesch received in 2009 the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award and in 2010 the Outstanding Contributions to Psychology and Law Award from the American Psychology-Law Society. In 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Psychology and Law from the European Association of Psychology and Law.

He served as president of the American Psychology-Law Society in 1994–1995. Roesch was also president of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services from 2009–2011 and served as editor-in-chief of its journal, the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health (2002–2006).

He has been the editor-in-chief of two more scientific journals: Law and Human Behavior from 1988–1996 and Psychology, Public Policy and Law from (2008–2012). He was editor of the American Psychology-Law Society book series, published by Oxford University Press, and currently is editor of the International Perspectives on Forensic Mental Health book series published by Routledge.