Fred R. Volkmar, M.D. is Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center, School of Medicine. A graduate of the University of Illinois where he received in undergraduate degree in psychology in 1972 and of Stanford University where he received his M.D. and a master’s degree in psychology in 1976 Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He is the author of several hundred scientific papers and chapters as well as a number of books including Asperger’s Syndrome (Guilford Press), Health Care for Children on the Autism Spectrum (Woodbine Publishing), the Handbook of Autism (Wiley Publishing), and A Practical Guide to Autism: What Every Parent, Teacher and Family Members Needs to Know (Wiley Publishing) with another three books in varying stages of production. He has served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He currently serves as Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. He has served as co-chairperson of the autism/intellectual disabilities committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition to having directed the internationally known autism clinic he also served as director of autism research at Yale before becoming chairperson of the Department. Dr. Volkmar has been the principal investigator of three program project grants including a CPEA (Collaborative Program of Excellent in Autism) grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and a STAART (Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment) Autism Center Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.