Paul A. Alberto

Ph.D. in Severe Disabilities, Georgia State University
M.S. in Mental Retardation, Fordham University
B.A. in Sociology, Hunter College, City University of New York

Functional literacy
Behavioral instruction strategies
Functional analysis

Paul Alberto is the Dean and Regents’ Professor in Intellectual Disabilities in the College of Education & Human Development. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Hunter College in 1971, a master’s degree in mental retardation from Fordham University in 1973 and a doctoral degree in severe disabilities from Georgia State University in 1976.

After graduating from Georgia State, he joined the College of Education & Human Development faculty as an assistant professor of special education and was promoted to associate professor and professor in 1981 and 1987, respectively.

In addition to teaching special education courses, Alberto has served as director of Georgia State University’s Bureau for Students with Multiple and Severe Disabilities since 1986, coordinated the college’s Multiple and Severe Disabilities program since 1976 and chaired the Georgia State Senate’s executive committee for eight years.

His research interests include functional literacy, behavioral instruction strategies and functional analysis, and his findings in these areas have been published in numerous academic journals. Additionally, his textbook entitled, “Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers,” has been translated into several languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Korean.