Conversation with Joseph V. Brady

Abstract

In this occasional series we record the views and personal experience of people who have specially contributed to the evolution of ideas in the journal's field of interest. Joseph V. Brady is Professor of Behavioral Biology, Director of the Behavioral Biology Research Center, and Professor of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He is one of the founders of the field of behavioral pharmacology. Addiction (A): Joe, you are well known as one of the founders of behavioral pharmacology. Were you interested in psychology and behavior from an early age? Joseph V. Brady (JVB):Oh, no. My early home and school years were strongly influenced by the Catholic parochial school system of Brooklyn, New York, and by a Xaverian and Jesuit secondary and college education. When I entered Fordham, a Jesuit college, in 1940, everybody took philosophy, logic, epistemology, and for the first couple of years there was no specialization. Even through college I had no objectives in that direction at all.