John M. Silva

Dr. Silva is Professor Emeritus in Sport Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He received his Ph.D. from The University of Maryland, and the MS and BS from The University of Connecticut. Appointed to the UNC-Chapel Hill faculty in 1981 he developed the sport psychology graduate program and served as the director of the sport psychology program and the sport psychology laboratory.

He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in sport psychology and currently consults with collegiate, professional, and Olympic athletes, coaches and teams and provides on-site services to professional athletes and athlete's competing at National, International and World competitions. His specializations include: the psychology of the elite athlete, preparation for competition, performance enhancement, team building, conflict resolution and leadership. Discussion of his research has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, NCAA News, USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, in National wire releases and on National television.

Dr. Silva was the founding president of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP), currently the largest sport psychology association in the world. As AAASP president he initiated the first sport psychology certification program for practicing consultants. AAASP's certification is the only certification program recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). He was the inaugural editor of the "Journal of Applied Sport Psychology", the first nonproprietary sport psychology journal in the United States. He is a fellow in AAASP, a certified AAASP consultant, a member of the USOC Sport Psychology Registry, and an AAHPERD Research Consortium Fellow.

Dr. Silva was a member of the first official delegation of North American sport psychologists invited to lecture and tour East German and Soviet sport psychology institutes. In addition to numerous keynote and invited academic presentations he presents to major businesses regarding performance excellence and how sport psychology principles can translate to success in the competitive business world.