UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Twin Cities Campus Department of Psychiatry F282/2A West Medical School 2450 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Office: 612-273-9800 June 1, 2013 Don Feeney Minnesota State Lottery Dear Don, it is a great pleasure to provide this letter to support the nomination of Mark Griffiths for the NCPG's Lifetime Achievement. Mark’s productive research career and his prominent role as a long-standing leader in the field easily make him worthy of NCPG’s lifetime award. Sincerely, Ken C. Winters, Ph.D. Professor [email protected] 1 May 16, 2013 Awards Committee International Journal National Council on Problem Gambling of Mental Health and Washington, D.C. Addiction Subject: Nomination of Professor Mark Griffiths, Ph.D. for the NCPG Lifetime Research Award I am honored to nominate Professor Mark Griffiths, Ph.D. for the NCPG Lifetime Research Award. Professor Griffiths is with no doubt one of the leading researchers in the field of gambling. With hundreds of peer- reviewed articles, reports, and book chapters under his belt, Professor Griffiths is the youngest professor/reader ever appointed at Nottingham Trent University. To honor his extra-ordinary achievements, we have dedicated an entire issue (2007) to Professor Griffiths. Editor-in-Chief: Masood Zangeneh ISSN: 1557-1874 (print version) Professor Griffiths has served on countless local, national and Journal no. 11469 international committees and editorial board (including our journal’s Springer New York editorial board), and has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. His writings have appeared in countless peer reviewed journals and magazines. Professor Griffiths has immensely contributed to growth of gambling research on several fronts (theory, treatment and policy) worldwide. I truly believe that Professor Griffiths is the most deserving candidate for this award, and it gives me pleasure to support and endorse his Contact info: Masood Zangeneh nomination. Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction (IJMA) [email protected] Regards, [email protected] Masood Zangeneh, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction Universität Bremen · Fachbereich 11 · Postfach 33 04 40 · 28334 Bremen Institut für Psychologie und Kognitionsforschung (IPK) Awards Committee Dr. phil. National Council on Problem Gambling Tobias Hayer Grazer Str. 4 Washington, D.C. 28359 Bremen Telefon (0421) 218 - 68708 Fax (0421) 218 - 68719 eMail [email protected] www: http://www.tobha.de Ihr Zeichen: Ihre Nachricht vom: Unser Zeichen: Datum: 17.05.13 Re: Nomination of Professor Mark Griffiths for the Lifetime Research Award It is a great honour for me to nominate Dr. Mark Griffiths for the National Council on Problem Gambling Lifetime Research Award. Dr. Griffiths is a Chartered Psychologist and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent Uni- versity, England. Most important and symbolic for his outstanding and unique ef- forts in the field of gambling research is the fact that Dr. Griffiths became (and still is) Europe’s only professor of gambling studies. Dr. Griffiths, born in 1966, has re- ceived his Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Exeter – his dissertation deals with slot machine addiction in adolescents – and since then has published over 400 re- fereed papers, three books, 100+ book chapters, and over 1,000 other articles mostly in the area of behavioral addictions (e.g., gambling addiction, video game addiction, Internet addiction, exercise addiction, sexual addiction). Both in terms of quantity and quality, Dr. Griffiths’ work and presentations are un- paralleled. His innovative and profound ideas significantly contributed to the under- standing of a phenomenon called ‘problem gambling’ in particular and other forms of behavioral addictions in general. Needless to say, Dr. Griffiths is probably the most cited scholar in the field of gambling research since he has published more peer-reviewed journal papers on (problem) gambling than any other colleague. His expertise can also be seen when looking at the wide range of methodologies he used to collect empirical data including qualitative as well as quantitative ap- Leitung Prof. Dr. C. Basar-Eroglu proaches (e.g., self-report methods, online data collection). The publications of Dr. Griffiths with regard to gambling tackle important and highly topical themes such as Sekretariat the addictive potential of specific gambling forms, risk factors of adolescent prob- Christiane Degering-Machirus lem gambling (which influenced my own dissertation remarkably), the analysis of (0421) 218 - 68703 prevalence and longitudinal data, the utility of social responsibility tools, and se- lected treatment issues. Seite 2 A unique characteristic of Dr. Griffiths work is certainly related to his teaching and communication skills. His talks – mostly as an invited keynote speaker in interna- tional conferences – but also his supervision now of more than 20 Ph.D. students mostly in the area of behavioral addiction seems to be exceptional and deserves respect without any doubt. Obviously, his expertise is valued by different stake- holder groups including governments, gambling providers, educators, psychologists, and colleagues. In addiction, he has provided expert testimony on several issues related to gambling and safer gambling products. Dr. Griffiths’ numerous writings in newspapers, magazines, and other outlets with high coverage (not to forget his semi-professional blog with more than 514,000 followers) represent another indica- tor of his tremendous impact in the wider public. Certainly both, his scientific contributions as well as his constant appearance in the media shaped the way, how gambling addiction is and will be perceived by scholars and laypersons. As a young researcher, I was positively surprised by his willingness to share ideas and to discuss best ways to disseminate innovative research findings. An excellent example is our collaboration on bringing together empirical evidence from different countries that ended in the edition of a book entitled “Problem Gambling in Europe” published by Springer. In sum, Dr. Griffiths’ impact in the field of gambling research will definitely a lasting one and future research will certainly be based on his findings in large parts. Some other highlights of Dr. Griffiths’ work should also be mentioned briefly to document his exceptional standing in the area of gambling research. Amongst other things, Dr. Griffiths has published in several languages and he is co-founder of two gambling charities in the U.K. (UK Forum on Young People and Gambling in 1990 and GamCare in 1997). Not surprisingly, he has been the recipient of multiple (in- ter)national awards including the John Rosecrance Research Prize, the US National Council on Problem Gambling Research Award and the Joseph Lister Prestige Award. In 2007, the International Journal on Mental Health and Addiction even dedicated an entire issue to Dr. Griffiths’ and his scientific achievements. Furthermore, he recently co-developed and evaluated a number of social responsibility tools (with the overall aim of minimizing gambling-related harms) including GAM-GaRD and Mentor. Taken together, Dr. Griffiths’ work always had and will have great implications for science, policy, prevention, and treatment. His publications are efficient and exten- sive and cover a wide range of theoretically and practically relevant topics in the field of gambling research. Therefore, I am convinced that Dr. Griffiths’ nomination for the National Council on Problem Gambling Lifetime Research Award is more than de- served. Sincerely, Tobias Hayer Dr. Tobias Hayer May 20, 2013 Awards Committee National Council on Problem Gambling It is an honor to submit the name of Dr. Mark Griffiths to be the first recipient of the NCPG’s award for lifetime achievement in research. As others have pointed out, there is no one who can match Mark’s record in contributing to our knowledge of problem gambling—over 400 published refereed papers, innumerable seminars and invited presentations, many, many articles in the popular press, and more. Of course, this means nothing unless these are publications of substance. But the amazing thing about this prodigious output is not just its quantity, it’s that every single piece has something to say. Of particular note is his recent (and not so recent) work on the linkage between addiction and technology, which has contributed greatly to our understanding of the risk factors involved with Internet gambling. If I am reading his CV correctly, his first publication on this subject was written in 1996, a time when many of us were still struggling with opening e-mails. It is no exaggeration to say that Dr. Griffiths is indisputably the world’s leading expert on this incredibly important topic. Moreover, he has made us understand that this issue goes well beyond gambling, that technology can foster other types of addictive behavior that do not meet the strict definition of gambling but are virtually indistinguishable in just about every aspect. To this record we can add the outstanding accomplishments of his students, his numerous consultations with governments throughout the world, his recognition of the importance of communicating with lay audiences, and his willingness to share his work with counselors and other non-research professionals. While I can think of many who are worthy of receiving this award, I can think of no one who is more deserving