2023 Fellows of ABAI: Gordon Bourland

Dr. Gordon Bourland is the principal/proprietor for Trinity Behavioral Associates in Arlington, Texas and currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Abilene Christian University as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the Applied Behavior Analysis program in the College of Education & Human Development at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. He has served as an invited lecturer or adjunct faculty member at Marietta College, McNeese State University, University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, West Virginia University, and Washington Technical College. In 1977, he received his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington, which was followed by a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Psychology and Developmental Disabilities from the John F. Kennedy Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Behavioral Psychology. Dr. Bourland’s contributions to the field of behavior analysis are many. With more than 30 articles and technical reports, he has also served as a guest reviewer and/or an Associate Editor for half a dozen journals. His record of volunteer service stretches over four decades, and includes service not just to ABAI, but to the Special Olympics, the TxABA Public Policy Group, and the World Behavior Analysis Day Alliance, which successfully launched World Behavior Analysis Day on March 20, B. F. Skinner’s birthday. His work with state legislatures in support of various licensing acts and laws has been instrumental in bringing light to the importance of licensure within the field and how to best incorporate common-sense regulations into state laws. Through his leadership on the ABAI Affiliate Chapter Board and Licensing Committee, he has been an active contributor to the establishment of ABA licensing laws in numerous states in the United States including in his home state, Texas, where he was named the initial Presiding Officer of the Behavior Analyst Advisory Board of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.