Carl L. Hart to Deliver Robert W. Root ’42 Endowment Lecture at W&L The expert in neuropsychopharmacology will give a talk in Stackhouse Theater on Oct. 16.

By Brian Laubscher
September 19, 2024

Carl L. Hart, Mamie Phipps Clark Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, will deliver the Robert W. Root Endowment Lecture at Washington and Lee University at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16 in Stackhouse Theater in Elrod Commons. The talk is free and open to the W&L community.

Hart’s lecture “Drug Use, Misuse and Science-based, Rational Drug Policy,” will recount his more than 30 years in the field of neuropsychopharmacology.

“The talk will be propelled largely by my research findings, drug policy hypocrisy and the strategies I have taken to enhance the implementation of more just and evidence-based measures,” said Hart.

Recognized as one of the world’s preeminent experts in neuropsychopharmacology, Hart has published more than 100 scientific and popular articles investigating the effects of drug use on the brain, behavior and society. He is the co-author of the textbook “Drugs, Society and Human Behavior,” and his latest book “Drug Use for Grown-ups,” has changed the national conversation on responsible drug use.

Hart has received numerous awards for his research, writing and teaching, including the 2022 Abraham L. Halpern Humanitarian Award, presented by the American Association for Social Psychiatry for his contributions to human rights. Additionally, his book “High Price” won the 2014 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.

Hart earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science and Ph.D., both in psychology/neuroscience, from the University of Wyoming. He pursued postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco and Yale University, and completed an Intramural Training Award fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.

“I’m excited that we’re finally able to bring Dr. Hart to campus,” said Bob Stewart, professor of cognitive and behavioral science at W&L. “I’ve long admired his contributions to the basic science of psychoactive drugs and behavior, and the way he has been able to communicate the broad importance of psychopharmacological research to a wider audience. His clear-eyed, energetic and fearless advocacy for the development of rational drug policy has helped to highlight the needless societal harm that has come from well-meaning but misinformed, often emotionally charged and politically motivated efforts to control drug use. I expect Dr. Hart’s presentation to stimulate vigorous, productive debate about how science can be used to structure drug policy that promotes justice and reduces the individual and societal harms of drugs.”

Hart’s lecture is sponsored by W&L’s Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science and the Root Lecture Fund. The Root Lecture Fund was established by Robert W. Root ’42 in 1991 to support guest speakers selected on a rotating basis by cognitive and behavioral science, philosophy and religion.