[1][5] Prior to joining APA, Anderson was an associate director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and held other roles in academia.
[9] In 1998, Anderson was elected president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine,[10] becoming the first African-American to hold the position.
[1][11] He was the founding associate director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he was in charge of social and behavioral science, and was the first director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR).
[1] While at NIH, Anderson facilitated behavioral and social sciences research across all of its Institutes and Centers.
[1] With his wife, P. Elizabeth Anderson, he wrote a health book for the general public, Emotional Longevity: What Really Determines How Long You Live,[18] which was released in 2003.