Koocher, Gerald P.

Gerald Paul Koocher (born March 13, 1947) is an American psychologist and past president of the American Psychological Association (APA). His interests include ethics, clinical child psychology and the study of scientific misconduct. He is Dean Emeritus Simmons University and also holds an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School. Koocher has over 350 publications including 18 books and has edited three scholarly journals including Ethics & Behavior which he founded. The APA’s Hoffman Report discussed Koocher’s involvement in drafting memoranda related to policies on psychologist participation in national-security interrogations. Koocher has disputed interpretations that he supported abusive practices, stating that he has consistently opposed psychologists’ involvement in torture and pointing to his publications on professional ethics. He issued a six-page joint-rebuttal, criticizing the ‘unfounded conclusions’ of the report.