Dr. H. Westley Clark

H. Westley Clark retired in August 2022 as the dean’s executive professor in the Department of Public Health at Santa Clara University in California. He is the former director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, where he led the agency’s national effort to provide effective and accessible treatment to all Americans with addictive disorders. In this capacity, he launched the recovery community support program which promoted the roles of peers in facilitating the recovery of those experiencing substance use disorders. Dr. Clark was also the former chief of the Associated Substance Abuse Programs at the US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco and a former associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). He served as a senior program consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson Substance Abuse Policy Program, a co-investigator on several National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded research grants, and as health counsel on the US Senate Committee of Labor and Human Resources for Senator Edward Kennedy. Dr. Clark’s current interests focus on clinical and policy issues associated with the use of psychoactive substances. He has a particular interest in privacy and confidentiality, ethical issues associated with substance use policy, innovations associated with behavioral health prevention and treatment, health information technology, and general health policy. He is a member of the Motivational Incentives Policy Group, the boards of the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts , Responsibility.org and Stop Stigma Now. He is also on the NIAAA Advisory Council. He previously served on the board of Faces and Voices of Recovery. Dr. Clark has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of substance abuse treatment from the Black Psychiatrist of America, American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, American Public Health Association, and many more. He was awarded the 2008 John P. McGovern Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine for his contributions toward increased understanding of the relationship between addiction and society. Dr. Clark received a BA in Chemistry from Wayne State University. He holds his MD and MPH from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and obtained his JD from Harvard University Law School. Dr. Clark received his board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry and sub-specialty certification in Addiction Medicine from the American Board of Preventive Medicine.