Michael Rank, PhD
University of Southern California Social Work
Michael G. Rank, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Clinical Professor for the University of Southern California, School of Social Work, Virtual Academic Center. He was previously a tenured Associate Professor at the University of South Florida (USF), School of Social Work from 1995-2010. He received his doctorate in Social Work from the University of South Carolina, his master's degree in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College, and his BA in Sociology from Bloomsburg University.
He is a Vietnam veteran, having served as an infantryman in the U.S Army from 1969-1970. He spent ten years as a state parole agent in Pennsylvania; directed Family Advocacy and Children Have a Potential (CHAP) programs for the United States Air Force; was a Team Leader for a Veterans Administration Vet Center program; and was a Director of Employee Assistance Programs for Family Service America. He has designed and implemented domestic violence programs for perpetrators and victims, and has conducted many critical incident stress debriefings following bank robberies, most notably for Bank of America (formerly Nations Bank) and the United States Postal Service.
His research interests include bioterrorism, compassion fatigue, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic stress, academic leadership and reaccreditation, and incarcerated fathers. He has completed an investigation of the experiences of survivors of traumatic stress in three countries: Nicaragua; the Dominican Republic, and selected counties in South Florida which was funded by the Office of Naval Research through the USF Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. He has received grants from the Department of the Army to create a bioterrorism training protocol for mental health preparedness; the Scott Charitable Trust to study compassion fatigue in Veterinarians; and the Florida Department of Community Affairs to provide traumatic stress training to mental health professionals. Michael was recently invited to Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait, to consult with their School of Social Work to create a curriculum with a focus on traumatic stress.
He is an internationally renowned speaker and author having presented numerous workshops, trainings, and seminars about the psychological effects of biological and chemical disasters, critical incident stress debriefing, traumatic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, compassion fatigue, fatherhood, motivational interviewing, and academic leadership. His publications include articles about compassion fatigue, bioterrorism, traumatic stress, critical incident stress debriefing, academic leadership & accreditation, fatherhood, and resistance to change.
