The B. F. Skinner Foundation’s Board of Directors has named Dr. Judah Axe the next President of the Foundation, effective July 1, 2025. “I am overjoyed!” says Dr. Axe. “I have been reading and teaching Skinner’s transformative work since entering the field in 2002. I am thrilled to help carry on Skinner’s legacy by stewarding the Foundation’s archiving and re-publishing of Skinner’s valuable work, as well as disseminating behavioral science through Operants and other exciting activities.”
Dr. Axe is a Professor of Behavior Analysis at Simmons University. He received his MA and PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education from The Ohio State University. Dr. Axe authored the 10th edition of Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers and over 40 research articles and book chapters, mostly on teaching verbal behavior to children with autism. Dr. Axe is a member of the Scientific Council of the Organization for Autism Research, and a trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He serves on the editorial boards of five behavior analytic research journals and was the winner of the 2021 Award for Excellence in Teaching Verbal Behavior from the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
Dr. Julie S. Vargas, who served as the President of the B. F. Skinner Foundation in 1989-2020, and in January-June 2025, continues to serve as the Chief Science Officer, Chair of the Archival Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors of the B. F. Skinner Foundation met on March 8 and 9, 2025 in Watertown, MA. We welcomed three new Board members: Sydney Berkman (PhD, MSEd, BCBA-D, LABA, Editor-in-Chief of Operants and Vice President of the Foundation, based in Massachusetts); Emily Kerwin (PhD, BCBA-D, LABA (MA), LBA (NY), based in Massachusetts); and Chirag Patel (BSc (Hons), PGCert, CPBC, DipCABT, MAPDT (00923), based in UK). During the meeting, Board members and the Foundation’s officers discussed past and current projects and planned new activities to continue our mission: preserving and sharing the work of B. F. Skinner so that his groundbreaking contributions to behavioral science remain accessible and impactful for generations to come.
The B. F. Skinner Foundation is powered by a dedicated team of scholars and practitioners committed to protecting Skinner’s writings, expanding access to his research and publications, promoting education and real-world applications of behavior analysis. Learn more about what we do here.
Pictured (left-to-right): Sydney Berkman (Board Member, incoming), Vincent Carbone (Board Member), Emaley McCulloch (Secretary), Julie Vargas (Interim President, Board Member), Kristina Tillman (Executive Director), Christy Evanko (Treasurer, Board Member), Dave Palmer (Board Member). On the screen (participating remotely): top right: Francesca degli Espinosa (Board Member, outgoing); bottom (left-to-right): Chirag Patel (Board Member, incoming), Emily Kerwin (Board Member, incoming), and David Roth (Board Member, outgoing).
For more information about the B. F. Skinner Foundation’s Board members, please click here.