Duncan Edward Walton earned his BA (Psychology) at Long Island University and his MA (Educational Psychology) at NY University. He attended Adelphi University where, in 1956, he was the first African American to be awarded a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

 

After serving as Assistant Chief Psychologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange, NJ, where he developed a diversity training program for hospital staff, Duncan became the Director of Counseling and Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Livingston College, Rutgers University. Continuing as part of the Rutgers faculty, he then became an Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology at the Graduate School of Education with a joint appointment at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. In the former, he eventually became Program Director, and changed the department’s focus from vocational psychology to multicultural psychology and family psychology, thus significantly increasing the Black and Brown representation within its faculty and student enrollment. He also served in the Office of the Provost as Special Advisor for Minority Affairs.

Having served Rutgers for nearly thirty years, in 1998, Dr. Walton retired from Rutgers and was awarded Emeritus Professor in Counseling Psychology, Rutgers University. He maintained his private practice from 1963 until 2006 when he fully retired to Martha's Vineyard
with his wife, Jocelyn, and was able to thoroughly enjoy his newly found freedom of choice.