Dr. Poussaint is a noted expert on children, race relations in America, the dynamics of prejudice, and issues of diversity in our increasingly multicultural society. He lectures widely on college campuses and also serves as a consultant to government agencies and private corporations. In addition, he is active in consulting to the media on a wide range of social issues.

Born in East Harlem, Dr. Poussaint attended Columbia University and received his medical degree from Cornell University in 1960. He took postgraduate training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, where he was chief resident in psychiatry from 1964-65. From 1965 to 1967, Dr. Poussaint was Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi, providing medical care to civil rights workers and aiding in the desegregation of health facilities throughout the southern United States.

In 1967, after leaving Mississippi, Dr. Poussaint joined the Tufts Medical School faculty as director of the psychiatry program in a low-income housing project. In 1969, he joined Harvard University where he served as director of student affairs at Harvard Medical School from 1975 to 1978 and where he continues as a member of the faculty.

Today, Dr. Poussaint is a clinical professor of psychiatry and faculty associate dean for student affairs at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Media Center at the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston. A prolific writer, Dr. Poussaint has had dozens of articles published in professional and general audience publications.

He is also former chairman of the board of directors of PUSH for Excellence. Dr. Poussaint is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and a fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association. He has also been honored with numerous awards and is the recipient of many honorary degrees.