Former Administrator of SAMHSA
Terry Cline, Ph.D.
Administrator from 12/2006 - 08/2008
 Terry Cline, Ph.D., was nominated by President George W. Bush on November 13, 2006 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2006 as Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline reports to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt and leads the $3.3 billion agency responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems.
Throughout his career Dr. Cline has worked to ensure individual and family needs are the driving force for the prevention, treatment and recovery support services delivered. He has championed the principle that mental health and freedom from substance abuse are fundamental to overall health and well-being and that mental and substance use disorders should be treated with the same urgency as any other health condition.
Prior to his appointment as SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline put these core values to work as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health, a position he was appointed to by Governor Brad Henry in 2004. At the same time, he served as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, a position he held since January 2001. He actively participated in and supported the creation of grassroots coalitions to improve the health status of local communities. During his tenure in Oklahoma, Dr. Cline built strong collaborative relationships among the multiple constituency groups and government agencies that touch the lives of people with substance abuse and mental health problems.
As a result of these partnerships significant advances were made in transforming the State’s service delivery systems, including the creation of Oklahoma’s Integrated Services Initiative which creates a holistic approach to treatment needs, a wide expansion of drug courts throughout the State and the introduction of mental health courts into Oklahoma along with a Statewide focus on recovery and recovery support services.
Dr. Cline has extensive experience in overseeing health and human services at the State level. He has also served as a provider through an earlier post as the Clinical Director of the Cambridge Youth Guidance Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts and as a Staff Psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. His professional history also includes a six-year appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A native of Ardmore, Oklahoma, Dr. Cline attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1980. He then received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Cline has involved himself in community service, including membership on a number of local, State and national committees and boards with a focus on improving the overall health of the community and the Nation.
Biography information last updated July 2007
|
