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Richard A. Pierce, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Rising Sun Consultants (Hershey, PA)
World Children's Center Program Advisor/Conceptual Program Model
Dr. Pierce holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Monmouth College in New Jersey, with a minor in Interpersonal and Small Group Communication. He received his Masters of Science degree in Counseling from the Pennsylvania State University and later received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Texas Tech University in the area of Counseling Psychology. For 10 years, from 1993 to 2003, Dr. Pierce served as Dean of Neighborhood and Family Life at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania where he had senior level oversight responsibility for the operation of a family-style residential educational program of 133 student homes for 1300 financial needy boys and girls between the ages of four and eighteen. Prior to moving to the Milton Hershey School, Dr. Pierce was a tenured Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University where he taught courses in all areas of Life-Span Development, including Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence and Adult Aging and Development. Dr. Pierce was also a member of the Penn State Graduate Faculty where he conducted research in the areas of children's conception of death, adolescent grief, adolescent suicide, human intimacy, human communication, self-persuasion, and counselor training and supervision. Dr. Pierce also has over ten years of applied clinical experience in the areas of grief counseling, as well as individual, marital and family psychotherapy.
Dr. Pierce currently holds membership status in the American Psychological Association, Society for Research in Child Development, Society for Research on Adolescence, Association for the Advancement of Health Education, and American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Dr. Pierce has designed and conducted numerous seminars, workshops and training experiences in such diverse areas as children's conception and understanding of death, adolescent grief, adolescent suicide, counseling and psychotherapy, leadership training, human growth and development, relationship enhancement, love, values clarification, interpersonal and small group communication, as well as team building, management, and leadership development.
Rick and his wife Jayne have been married for 23 years and are the proud parents of two daughters, Alexis (age 13) and Samantha (age 10). In addition, Rick and Jayne are also surrogate parents to a young man who is completing his post-secondary education.
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