Richard Ramsay

Richard Ramsay is professor emeritus of social work, University of Calgary, and president emeritus, LivingWorks Education. He was a co-founder of Canada’s 3rd telephone crisis line (1968) and LivingWorks Education (1983), a social enterprise focused on large-scale dissemination of standardized suicide first aid training. Today, local trainer networks are present in countries around the world. At the international policy level, invited by the United Nations, he was a co-leader and organizer in developing UN Guidelines for the formulation and implementation of national suicide prevention strategies (1996). He is a past member of NSPL’s Standards and Practice Committee (2008), NSPS’s Revitalization Task Force (2011), and is currently active with PAUSE (People Addressing and Understanding Suicide Experiences). Recent suicide prevention recognitions include UCalgary’s Peak Scholar for entrepreneurship, innovation, and knowledge engagement (2020), and the American Association of Suicidology Chair’s Lifetime Excellence Award (2023).