Dr Michael Bourke

Dr. Michael Bourke is a professor, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist, and a retired U.S. federal law enforcement officer. He spent eight years interviewing, evaluating, polygraphing, treating, and researching sex offenders at a federal prison, and then served for the next 13 years as the Chief Psychologist for the United States Marshals Service (USMS), where he created and ran the USMS Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). He co-authored the “Butner Study” and published seminal work on the use of tactical polygraph with sex offenders. He has also conducted studies in the area of resilience and employee wellness, and has co-edited several books addressing behavioral criminology and first responder mental health. He has been a member of the forensic psychology faculty at The George Washington University since 2016. His volunteer activities include serving as a founding Board Member for Raven and serving as the National Chair of the Youth Protection Committee for Scouting America.