Dr. V. Mark Durand is a Professor of Psychology at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where he was the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.and the founding Dean of Arts and Sciences. He is also known worldwide as an authority in the area of autism spectrum disorders. Mark is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and has received over $4 million in federal funding to study the behavior problems in children with disabilities.

Dr. Durand earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (all in psychology) at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook. Currently a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the Autism Society of America, Mark is the co-editor of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions and has written over 100 publications on educational programming, functional communication, and behaviour therapy and over 10 books. He developed a unique treatment for severe behavior problems that is used worldwide. Most recently, Dr. Durand developed an innovative approach (Optimistic Parenting) to help families work with their challenging children.