William Purkey is a professor at the university of North Carolina Greensboro. He has a B.S.in education from the University of Virginia, a M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia, and his Ed.D. in Psychological Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. Purkey has written (authored and co-authored) over 80 articles and nine books.

Purkey’s research interests include: Self-concept, interpersonal relationships, emotional climate, conflict management, human motivation, and responsive therapy. Purkey is the co-founder of the International Alliance for Invitational Education. The International Alliance for Invitational Education is chartered by the State of North Carolina as a non-for-profit organization. The Alliance was started in 1982 as a group of 12 educators and professionals and is committed to seeing all people as valuable and responsible. Prior to this, in 1968 Purkey along with Betty Siegel, while at the University of Florida, received a grant from the Noyes foundation of New York to train educators.

William Purkey developed the Individual Learning Concept which offers a guide of what counselors, teachers, principals, supervisors, superintendents, can do to enrich the physical and psychological environments of institutions and encourage the development of the people who live and work in the schools.

In 1978, along with Arthur Combs, and Donald Avila wrote Helping Relationships: Basic Concepts for the Helping Professions. In the book they attempt to set down principles of behavior which are accepted among psychologists as well as to examine what these concepts mean for those who work in the helping professions.

Publications

Helping Relationships: Basic Concepts for the Helping Professions