Barclay, Allan G.

Allan G. Barclay was born in Masonville, Iowa on December 22, 1930. After serving in the US Army during the Korean War he received his BA in psychology from the University of Tulsa in 1955. He earned his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1960. Barclay accepted his first teaching position at St. Louis University in 1960 and by 1965 was Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics. He remained at St. Louis University for nineteen years and during that time held several positions including chief of the Psychology Service at Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children, director of the Child Development Clinic for Mentally Retarded Children and associate university research administrator. He also worked as a consultant for several projects including President John F. Kennedy's Committee on Mental Retardation, the United States Children's Bureau and the White House Conference on Children.

In 1979 Barclay accepted a position at Wright State University as the associate dean of academic affairs in the School of Professional Psychology. While at Wright State he served as vice president of the faculty and also worked as a consultant for the US Air Force. In 1990 Barclay left Wright State University and returned to St. Louis University as Professor Emeritus and as an adjunct Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry. At this time he also accepted an appointment as Clinical Research Professor at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health.

Barclay was a fellow and an active member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and at different times served as president of three divisions - Clinical Psychology, Mental Retardation and Consulting Psychology. He also served on numerous boards and committees within the organization including the Board of Professional Affairs, the Policy and Planning Board, the Finance Committee and the Continuing Education Committee. He was a diplomate in clinical psychology of the American Board of professional Psychology and a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Council of Psychologists and the Royal Society of Health. Barclay served as president of the Missouri Psychological Association three times and also worked as a liaison to the Missouri General Assembly. His work as a liaison led to the eventual licensure law for Missouri psychologists in 1977 and Barclay was the first psychologist in the state to be granted a psychology license.

Barclay received numerous awards throughout his career including the APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service, the Karl F. Heiser APA Presidential Award for Advocacy, the APA State Leadership Award and the Distinguished Contributions to Clinical Psychology Award from APA's Division of Clinical Psychology. He served two terms as president of Psi Chi and established a $500 scholarship in his name at St. Louis University for outstanding doctoral students in psychology.

Barclay published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and book reviews. He presented more than 35 papers and chaired or participated in over 30 different symposia. He worked as a consulting editor for several psychological journals and in 1976 became the founding editor of the journal "Professional Psychology: Research and Practice."

Allan G. Barclay died at his home in St. Louis, Missouri on February 2, 2006.* *

Thumin, F.J. and Craddick, R.A. (2007). Allan G. Barclay (1930-2006). American Psychologist, 62 (1), 56. *

_____ (2000). Allan G. Barclay: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service Citation. American Psychologist, 55(11), 1313-1315.*

From the guide to the Allan G. Barclay papers, 1962-1990, (Center for the History of Psychology)