About Walter

My story

I first encountered schizophrenia in art school, studying the work of psychotic sculptors and painters. I went on to study psychology as an undergraduate, then neuropsychology and aesthetics at the University of Toronto, where I earned my Master’s in 1980 and Ph.D. in 1984. I was registered as a psychologist in Ontario with practice in clinical neuropsychology in 1985.

After several years of clinical experience in hospitals, I accepted an academic appointment at York University in Toronto in 1988, teaching and researching schizophrenia and clinical neuropsychology. I was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 1993 and to Professor in 2006. I have authored more than 100 publications, including books, book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, essays and reviews. One of those books is In Search of Madness: Schizophrenia and Neuroscience, published by Oxford University Press in 2001.

I became Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in 2020. I have researched and written about schizophrenia for 40 years. My new book, The Illness of Thoughts, is aimed at general readers and is due out in early 2027. There is a lot of misinformation regarding this disorder, which I hope to dispel. But also I want to show why it is such a challenge to understand as a problem in science. I keep my eye on possible breakthroughs to stay engaged, and I also comment on mistakes and misleading statements in social and news media. I share my perspective with posts and notes on Substack.

I love to travel with my wife Eleanor and spend time with my two adult children. I also paint and photograph and play piano and guitar. All artwork that appears throughout this site is my own.

Walter also paints and photographs. His artwork appears throughout this site.