Bruce Keisling, PhD, has been named the executive director of the UT-Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD) and Shainberg Chair of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). He has served as associate director of the center for nine years, and is the director and principal investigator for the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Program.
Keisling, the fourth executive director since the center’s inception, is taking over the position from Frederick B. Palmer, MD, who retired from the BCDD after 23 years. Keisling is a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UTHSC. He has more than 20 years experience in the field of developmental disabilities. Previous positions include a clinical faculty appointment through the Emory University School of Medicine and a four-year tenure as the regional director of a statewide, not-for-profit center that serves adults and children with developmental disabilities.
He is president-elect of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities and serves statewide interests through his board membership on the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.