EXCOM Member
Liz Clark, PhD
Dr. Liz Clark, a member of the Senior Executive Service, serves as the Director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this position, she is responsible for policy, oversight, and advocacy of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) suicide prevention programs, which include suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts including policy, program development and evaluation, data surveillance, research, and outreach and engagement in support of more than 2M Service members and over 2.5M military family members worldwide.
Dr. Clark brings over 20 years of service spanning the federal government and military service. Prior to her current assignment, Dr. Clark was the Deputy Director of DSPO. Dr. Clark also previously served as the Deputy Executive Director for the PREVENTS Task Force, created by Presidential Executive Order 13861, and charged with developing the first federally coordinated national public health strategy and roadmap to address Veteran suicide. From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Clark served as the Director and Assistant Director of the DSPO Policy and Plans Directorate and was responsible for developing suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention policies, guidance, and strategic planning. Dr. Clark brings an array of suicide prevention experience to the Department through her previous work as a volunteer hotline crisis worker answering the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, as well as established and co-led a suicide bereavement support group in the Washington Metropolitan area.
Dr. Clark served as an Army Officer for over nine years in the Ordnance Corps and Adjutant General Corps and had a variety of assignments at the installation level, Army Staff, and National Guard Bureau.
Dr. Clark holds a Doctorate in Education from Vanderbilt University in Leadership and Learning in Organizations, a Master’s Degree from Georgetown University in Human Resources Management, and a Bachelor’s Degree from McDaniel College in Sociology.