Todd R. Risley
Stunning and sophisticated behavior analytic research approaches to the study of young children's development characterized the work of Todd Risley. For nearly half a century, Dr. Risley and his students and colleagues investigated the interaction between the environmental, physical, and behavioral aspects of young typically and atypically developing children. Through Dr. Risley and his colleagues' extensive and painstaking efforts, the behavior analytic community now has much better insight into the environmental factors that can promote or impede children's language acquisition and other facets of their performance. In his roles as co-founder and editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, director of several applied research laboratories, professor and mentor of a long, capable string of graduate students, and in numerous other ways, Risley had a major impact on the research path followed by the field of behavior analysis.