email:illbackr@reachoflouisville.com

Robert J. Illback is Executive Director (CEO) of REACH of Louisville, Inc., a human services agency that serves children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral disabilities. He holds a Psy.D. from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University, and in 1990 was the inaugural recipient of the Donald R. Peterson Prize in recognition of career contributions in professional psychology.

A Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society, Dr. Illback has published extensively in areas of child psychology and education. His most recent book is entitled, Integrated services for children and families: Opportunities for psychological practice (APA Books, 1997). He has served as principal investigator or program evaluator for a number of nationally-recognized systems of care initiatives, including Kentuckyís Family Resource and Youth Services Centers, Kentucky IMPACT, Integrated Resources in Schools (IRIS), Health Access: Nurturing Development Services (HANDS), Community Partnerships for Protecting Children, Early Childhood Mental Health, Family-to-Family (F2F), the Kentucky Safe Schools Data Project, Project Family, and Kentuckyís substance abuse prevention programs.

Presently, he also serves as Director of Planning and Evaluation for Headstrong - The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, in Dublin, Ireland. His professional and research interests include systems of care in child mental health, school-based and school-linked integrated service programs, community-based intervention, program planning and evaluation, and planned organizational change. Dr. Illback has been active in professional association work at the national level, and recently completed nine years of service as a member of the State Board of Examiners in Psychology, including two terms as Chair.

In college, Bob played intercollegiate basketball and tennis and continues to enjoy sporting activity. His recreational interests include gardening, genealogy, and farm activities. Bob and Marsha have five children between them, including two girls (Erin and Anne) and three boys (Scott, Patrick, Drew), three of whom have graduated from college.