Jon B. Ellis, Ph.D.
Professor & Clinical Psychologist
Department of Psychology
East Tennessee State University

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Brief Biography

1967 PONTIAC LEMANS

1967 PONTIAC LEMANS (I DATED MY FUTURE WIFE IN ONE ALMOST JUST LIKE THIS)

1961 MGA 1993 mazda miata

’61 MGA-MY 1ST SPORTS CAR ’93 MIATA-MY KEEPER

1958 Chevy 1967 volkswagon

’58 CHEVY-MY 1ST CAR ’67 VW-MY 1ST GOOD CAR

fiat 1996 bmw z3

FIAT-1 OF MY BAD CARS ’96 BMW Z3-MY 1ST HEAD TURNER

1995 bmw 318 blue mga

’95 BMW 318-MY 1ST BMW! MY 2ND MGA WAS DARKER

2006 toyota prius 1971 pinto

’06 prius- we go green! ’71 pinto- yes we did!

tr7 chevy vega

Our TR7 a lot like this one We had a Chevy Vega, too

1981 RENAULT LE CAR

1981 RENAULT LE CAR (WOW!)

2010 LESUS RX 350

2010 LEXUS RX 350 (OUR NEWEST BABY)

WHEN PEOPLE FIND OUT THAT I AM A CAR FAN WITH HUGE FANTASIES, THEY OFTEN ASK, "WHAT WOULD YOU GET IF YOU COULD?" HERE ARE A FEW OF MY DREAM CARS

CITROEN DS

1972 CITROEN DS (THE "MENTALIST'S" CAR)

1960 PORSCHE 356

1964 CITROEN

1964 CITROEN DS19 CHAPRON

1966 JAGUAR XKE

2010 FERRARI

2010 FERRARI CALIFORNIA (I JUST NEED A COOL $200,000)

1961 MGA

1961 MGA (I'VE HAD 2, BUT NOT THIS PRETTY)

PORSCHE 911

PORSCHE 911 (ANY YEAR)

PORSCHE BOXSTER

PORSCHE BOXSTER (AS LONG AS IT'S RED)

1967 SAAB

1967 SAAB 96 (I LOVE THE ODD ONES)

1970 SAAB SONETT

1970 SAAB SONETT (IT DOESN'T GET ANY COOLER)

1991 ACURA NSX

1991 ACURA NSX (I'VE HAD 2 ACURAS, BUT THEY WEREN'T LIKE THIS BABY)

2003 BMW Z8

2003 BMW Z8 (MUCH MORE THAN A Z4)

2006 LOTUS

2006 LOTUS ELISE (THIS IS ACTUALLY ALMOST AFFORDABLE)

2010 TESLA

2010 TESLA (WHO SAID ELECTRIC CARS HAD TO BE BORING?)

1986 ALPHA

1986 ALPHA ROMEO SPYDER (I ALMOST BOUGHT ONE OF THESE)

1957 CORVETTE

1957 CORVETTE (WOW!)

1965 COBRA

1965 COBRA (TOO COOL AND TOO FAST!)

1974 CITROEN DS

1974 CITROEN DS (ANOTHER PIC OF MY ULTIMATE DREAM CAR)

1956 CITROEN 2CV

1956 CITROEN 2CV (WEIRDER THAN THE DS, BUT NOT AS COOL)

1960 TRIUMPTH TR3

1960 TRIUMPH TR3 (MY 2ND CHOICE BEHIND THE MGA)

1964 RENAULT DALPHINE

1964 RENAULT DALPHINE (ANOTHER ODD ONE THAT I LOVED; IT HAD 32 HORSEPOWER)

1959 BMW ISETTA

1959 OR 1960 BMW ISETTA (SO WEIRD YOU GOTTA LOVE IT!)

2011 PRIUS CONCEPT

2011 PRIUS CONCEPT VEHICLE (I'M FIRST IN LINE WHEN THIS ONE GOES ON LINE)

1974 TRIUMPH TR6

1974 TRIUMPH TR6 (JUST ABOUT PERFECT)

1958 AUSTIN HEALEY

1958 AUSTIN HEALEY (ANOTHER OLD BRITISH CLASSIC)

After high school I earned a congressional appointment to a military academy. It didn’t last long, but it pushed me in another direction. Sometimes I feel like I wasted time, but then I learned a lot of life’s lessons back then. I earned my B.S. degree in Psychology from Virginia Tech in 1973. I also earned an M.S. in Psychology from Radford University in 1981. Before that and in between I worked at a bunch of fast food restaurants, waited on tables at a fancy restaurant, performed the hardest work known to human kind (at least in the U.S.) on a tobacco farm in North Carolina, and worked in a pickle packing plant for a summer. I think everyone should work in a restaurant and a factory for at least a summer. It makes the rest of what we do seem not so hard. Upon earning the Master’s degree, I worked as a clinician in community mental health (“the trenches”) in some very rural clinics in southwest Virginia for three years. After being influenced by a clinical psychologist who served as my clinical supervisor, I was fortunate to be admitted to a Ph.D. program in 1985. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Clinical Child Psychology and Early Intervention from the University of Southern Mississippi, the same school that produced the ultra-famous NFL quarterback, Brett Favre. I completed a Clinical Psychology Residency at the University of Virginia Medical Center and a training program in Forensic Evaluation at the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. From there I had the very good fortune to land here at ETSU in the Department of Psychology where I am surrounded by wonderful colleagues and some very hard working and dedicated students. I am a Professor of Psychology and a licensed Psychologist as well as a Health Service Provider in the State of Tennessee. I have maintained a private practice since 1990 in which I see mostly children and their families. Since the early 2000’s I have also worked with older adults in nursing homes, work that I find extremely rewarding. You can read about my research interests in the research section, but generally our research is in the area of suicide and reasons for living.

On a personal level, I grew up in a U.S. Navy family, the oldest of three Baby Boomer children. My brother was an extroverted, fun-loving, successful salesperson who lived in the fast lane. He passed away at the age of 47 of lung cancer, leaving behind a wife and two children. So, think before you smoke or even walk into a bar that permits smoking. My sister is a master’s trained Registered Nurse. She lives in the mountains of Virginia and is married to Gary, a man who can fix nearly anything. In fact, in our family we say, “If Gary can’t fix it, it can’t be fixed.” They have a beautiful teenaged son, Jonathan, who is a new Chicago Cubs fan. One of my passions in life is baseball, so it is very gratifying to see him find what truly is America’s pastime. My wife and I are also Godparents to a wonderful young man, Drew, who enrolled as a freshman at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in the fall of 2010. We know he will make us even more proud. It hasn’t been hard at all to say that we are now part “Vol.” My parents married in 1949 after my Mother swept my Father off his feet. They were my models of monogamy and they showed me the meaning of finding your soul mate. My Dad was a career military man, who joined the Navy in 1942 after graduating from High School. He was a World War II veteran who saw action in the Pacific Theatre. I am unbelievably proud to say that I am the son of a sailor and the son of a WWII Vet. He was truly a genuine American Hero. Dad passed away in May of 2008 at the age of 83. I think of him every day of my life and miss him as much today as I did the first day he left us. My mother is alive and well, living in Roanoke, VA where she is helping her grandson grow up. After my Mom raised three kids, she entered the job market and worked as an interior decorator for J.C. Penney until she retired. I married my soul mate, Wanda in 1970. We were both 19 and it’s the only marriage for both of us. We have one dog child, Buffy who we adopted in 1998. My wife and I became Vegetarians in 1976 and although we are not evangelical about it, we can spend hours talking with anyone who will listen about meatless recipes and our love of animals. We also have a passion for the beach, toy collecting, sports cars, rock and roll music, and horror and science fiction movies and we can talk about that stuff so much that you will want to go home.

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