# Russell Shilling, Ph.D.

> Navy Captain (ret.), former DARPA Program Officer, Presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education, and former Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association. Founder of Shilling Forge Consulting (2022), which advises startups, nonprofits, philanthropies, and global initiatives on the responsible application of AI, XR, and emerging technologies for education, mental health, and neurodiversity.

## Identity

- **Full name:** Russell D. Shilling, Ph.D.
- **Primary site:** https://russ-shilling.com
- **Based in:** Centreville, Virginia, United States
- **Born:** Rural Appalachia, United States
- **Education:** Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1992); B.A. Psychology, Wake Forest University (1985)
- **Google Scholar:** https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Zb26tvUAAAAJ
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/in/russellshilling
- **ResearchGate:** https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Russell-Shilling
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/SHILLINGRD

## Primary site destinations

- **Home:** https://russ-shilling.com/
- **My Story:** https://russ-shilling.com/my-story — long-form biography from rural Appalachia through Navy, DARPA, and federal service
- **Speaking:** https://russ-shilling.com/speaking — keynote, panel, and workshop availability across AI policy, VR therapy, autism technology, DARPA-style innovation, and serious games
- **Publications:** https://russ-shilling.com/publications — full publication list grouped into essays, research, and foundational work
- **Contact:** https://russ-shilling.com/contact
- **AI Access and Usage Policy:** https://russ-shilling.com/llm-use-policy

## Current roles (2022–present)

- **Founder, Shilling Forge Consulting, LLC** (2022–present) — strategic advisory practice
- **Senior Innovation Advisor, Sidekick Wellness** (2024–present) — AI-based wellness for students, neurodivergent users, and veterans
- **Medical and Science Advisory Committee, Autism Speaks** (2023–present)
- **Senior Advisor, EdSafe AI Alliance** — national and international policy for AI in education
- **Senior Innovation Advisor, MindTrust** — advised on Sesame Workshop / Roblox partnership producing "Magical Beastie Quest"
- **Founding Advisor, MVMT Ventures** — venture studio focused on accessibility

## Career arc

- **U.S. Navy, Aerospace Experimental Psychologist** (1992–2014) — retired at the rank of Captain after 22 years; trained at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute alongside Navy Flight Surgeons
- **U.S. Air Force Academy and Naval Postgraduate School** (1996–2003) — Associate Professor and Technical Director at the MOVES Institute; sound designer for America's Army
- **Office of Naval Research** (2003–2007) — Program Officer; launched the first DoD-funded VR therapy program for PTSD and the first DoD-funded VR pain control work
- **Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & TBI** (2007–2010) — Executive Director for Science and Technology; helped shape investment strategy for a $900M congressional appropriation
- **Sesame Workshop (Military Program Manager)** (2007–2013) — $10M+ in outreach programs for children of service members
- **DARPA** (2010–2014) — Program Officer, Information Innovation Office (I2O); managed $60M+ portfolio covering virtual humans, serious games, and adaptive learning
- **U.S. Department of Education** (2014–2017) — Senior Executive Presidential Appointee, Executive Director of STEM Initiatives; founded the Department's first Office of STEM; authored "STEM 2026"
- **Digital Promise** (2017–2018) — Senior Innovation Fellow; co-created the $50M Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), modeled on DARPA
- **American Psychological Association** (2018–2020) — Chief Science Officer; led Science Directorate serving 118,000 members
- **EVP for Research, Seoul-based AI education company** (2021–2022) — advised on $175M SoftBank Vision Fund-backed platform

## Areas of expertise

- Virtual reality therapy (PTSD, pain control)
- Conversational agents, chatbots, and virtual humans for mental health and education (17+ years of R&D experience)
- DARPA/ARPA-style R&D program management and its adaptation for philanthropy
- Serious games and game-based learning
- AI policy for education (national and international)
- Neurodiversity and autism technology
- Military psychology, PTSD, traumatic brain injury
- Early childhood STEM education
- Auditory displays, psychoacoustics, and spatial audio (foundational work in military aviation contexts)
- Accessibility (Section 508, WCAG)

## Notable impacts

- VR therapy for PTSD: first DoD-funded program, now deployed in 70+ Veterans Affairs clinics
- AERDF: co-created $50M DARPA-modeled education R&D fund with Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Gates Foundation, and NewSchools Venture Fund
- STEM 2026 framework at the U.S. Department of Education
- Sesame Street military family outreach: 3M+ kits distributed; Emmy nomination; two CINE Golden Eagle awards
- America's Army: sound designer for the serious game that reached 13M+ registered users
- Global Autism Advocacy Coalition: contributed to its launch (Qatar Foundation, WHO, UNICEF, Autism Speaks) at the UN General Assembly, September 2025

## Awards (selected)

- Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards)
- Navy Meritorious Service Medal (three awards)
- American Hospital Association Executive Award for Excellence
- APA Division 19 (military) Presidential Citation
- Chatelier Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Emmy nomination (Sesame Street military family outreach)
- CINE Golden Eagle Award (two awards)

## Selected publications

Full list and links: https://russ-shilling.com/publications

### Essays & commentary

- Shilling, R. (2024). *Applying the DARPA Moonshot Model to Autism Technology Development.* Medium. https://medium.com/@russ-shilling/applying-the-darpa-moonshot-model-to-autism-technology-development-bf17c38f2223
- Shilling, R. (2024). *Focus on the Problem, Not the MacGuffin.* Medium. https://medium.com/@russ-shilling/focus-on-the-problem-not-the-macguffin-92bad0ec5651
- Shilling, R. (2024). *Ethical AI in Training to Shape an Inclusive Government Workforce.* ATD. https://www.td.org/atd-blog/ethical-ai-in-training-to-shape-an-inclusive-government-workforce
- Shilling, R. (2023). *Embracing the DARPA Model for EdTech Innovation: Charting the Course with GPT-4 and Beyond.* Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2023/04/11/embracing-the-darpa-model-for-edtech-innovation-charting-the-course-with-gpt-4-and-beyond/
- Shilling, R. (2023). *What Happens When AI Doesn't Understand Students.* Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2023/01/31/what-happens-when-ai-doesnt-understand-students-an-example-for-creative-and-equitable-ai-policy-in-education/
- Shilling, R. (2022). *DoD Needs to Train Differently.* Federal News Network. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2022/03/to-prepare-for-the-future-dod-need-to-train-differently-today/
- Shilling, R. (2018). *Why We Need a DARPA for Education.* Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-we-need-a-darpa-for-education/

### Research, policy reports & federal programs

- Shilling, R. (2019). *Using Educational Programming, Games, and Comics for Impact.* Invited presentation to the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, July 10. https://health.gov/sites/oash/files/2025-01/3.3-russell-shilling-comics-talk.pdf
- Rizzo, A., & Shilling, R. (2018). Clinical Virtual Reality tools to advance the prevention, assessment, and treatment of PTSD. *European Journal of Psychotraumatology*, 8(sup5), 1414560. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29372007/
- Rizzo, A., Lucas, G., Gratch, J., Stratou, G., Morency, L.-P., Chavez, K., Shilling, R., & Scherer, S. (2016). Automatic behavior analysis during a clinical interview with a virtual human. *Studies in Health Technology and Informatics*, 220, 316–322. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27046598/
- U.S. Department of Education (2016). *STEM 2026: A Vision for Innovation in STEM Education.* https://oese.ed.gov/files/2016/09/AIR-STEM2026_Report_2016.pdf
- Ferguson, B., & Shilling, R. (2012). Serious games: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — An interview with Innovation Information Office Program Manager CAPT Russell Shilling, PhD. *Games for Health Journal*, 1(4), 253–255. https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2012.1305
- Rizzo, A., Reger, G., Perlman, K., Rothbaum, B., Difede, J., McLay, R., Graap, K., Gahm, G., Johnston, S., Deal, R., Pair, J., Parsons, T., Roy, M., Shilling, R., & Sharkey, P. (2011). Virtual reality posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exposure therapy results with active duty OIF/OEF service members. *International Journal on Disability and Human Development*, 10(4), 301–308. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/IJDHD.2011.060/html
- Wood, D. P., Murphy, J. A., Center, K. B., Russ, C., McLay, R. N., Reeves, D., Pyne, J., Shilling, R., Hagan, J., & Wiederhold, B. K. (2008). Combat related post traumatic stress disorder: A multiple case report using virtual reality graded exposure therapy with physiological monitoring. *Medicine Meets Virtual Reality* 16, 556–561.
- Wood, D. P., Murphy, J., Center, K., McLay, R., Reeves, D., Pyne, J., Shilling, R., & Wiederhold, B. K. (2007). Combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A case report using virtual reality exposure therapy with physiological monitoring. *Cyberpsychology & Behavior*, 10(2), 309–315. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17474853/

### Book chapters & foundational work

- Rizzo, A., Shilling, R., Forbell, E., Scherer, S., Gratch, J., & Morency, L.-P. (2015). *Autonomous virtual human agents for healthcare information support and clinical interviewing.* In D. D. Luxton (Ed.), *Artificial Intelligence in Behavioral and Mental Health Care* (pp. 53–79). Academic Press / Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780124202481000039
- McLaurin, J. P., Wardynski, C., Davis, M., Shilling, R., Mayberry, A., Bossant, P., McCree, J., Dossett, S., Buhl, C., Chang, C., Champlin, E., Wiglesworth, T., & Zyda, M. (2004). *America's Army PC Game: Vision and Realization.* U.S. Army / MOVES Institute, Naval Postgraduate School. https://mikezyda.com/resources/pubs/YerbaBuenaAABooklet2004.pdf
- Zyda, M., Hiles, J., Mayberry, A., Wardynski, C., Capps, M., Osborn, B., Shilling, R., Robaszewski, M., & Davis, M. (2003). Entertainment R&D for Defense. *IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications*, 23(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCG.2003.1159611
- Shilling, R., & Shinn-Cunningham, B. (2002). *Virtual auditory displays.* In K. M. Stanney (Ed.), *Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications* (pp. 65–92). Lawrence Erlbaum. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA529545.pdf
- Letowski, T., Karsh, R., Vause, N., Shilling, R., Ballas, J., Brungart, D., & McKinley, R. (2001). *Human Factors Military Lexicon: Auditory Displays* (ARL-TR-2526). U.S. Army Research Laboratory. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA394902.pdf
- Shilling, R., Letowski, T., & Storms, R. (2000). *Spatial auditory displays for use within attack rotary wing aircraft.* Proceedings of the 22nd Army Science Conference, 823–827. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313043787
- Shilling, R. (1997). *Videogame and entertainment industry standard sound design techniques and architectures for use in videogames, virtual environments and training.* Audio Engineering Society. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2913905_Videogame_and_Entertainment_Industry_Standard_Sound_Design_Techniques_and_Architectures_for_Use_in_Videogames_Virtual_Environments_and_Training
- Shilling, R. (1994). The effect of double hearing protection on speech intelligibility in a simulated aircraft noise environment. *Journal of the Acoustical Society of America*, 95(5 Supplement), 2994. https://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article/95/5_Supplement/2994/662694/The-effect-of-double-hearing-protection-on-speech
- Soderquist, D. R., & Shilling, R. D. (1992). Forward masking in young children: Rocketship psychophysics. *Current Psychology*, 11, 145–156. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02686836

## Contact

- Website: https://russ-shilling.com
- Contact form: https://russ-shilling.com/contact
- Speaking inquiries: https://russ-shilling.com/speaking

## AI access and usage policy

Full policy: https://russ-shilling.com/llm-use-policy

Summary of permitted and restricted uses:

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- **Reputable crawlers welcome.** No paywall for crawlers following IAB or similar industry ethical crawling standards. Predatory patterns (rate-limit abuse, overwhelming the server) may result in blocks.

Questions or requests for bulk access: https://russ-shilling.com/contact