For 50 years, Robert L. DuPont, MD, has been a leader in substance use disorder treatment and prevention. He was the first Director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (1973-1978) and the second White House Drug Chief (1973-1977). From 1968-1970, he was Director of Community Services for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections. From 1970-1973, he served as Administrator of the District of Columbia Narcotics Treatment Administration. In 1978, he became the founding President of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc., a non-profit research and policy organization that identifies and promotes powerful new ideas to reduce drug use and addiction.

Dr. DuPont has written over 400 professional articles and 15 books and monographs on a variety of health-related subjects. In 2018, he authored his most recent book, Chemical Slavery: Understanding Addiction and Stopping the Drug Epidemic.

A graduate of Emory University, Dr. DuPont received his MD degree in 1963 from Harvard Medical School. He completed his psychiatric training at Harvard and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. DuPont maintains an active practice of psychiatry specializing in addiction and anxiety disorders and has been Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine since 1980. Dr. DuPont’s signature role throughout his career has been to focus on the public health goal of reducing the use of illegal drugs.