W. Barry Nixon is the Executive Director, the National Institute for Prevention of Workplace Violence, Inc., a company focused on assisting organizations to effectively implement programs to prevent workplace violence. With over 25 years in Human Resources and Organization Development in Fortune 500 companies, Mr. Nixon is well grounded in the real issues companies face and develops practical solutions based on his real life experiences.

Prior to founding the Institute, Mr. Nixon studied 'General Management' in the Executive Management Program, University of Hawaii. He earned a masters’ degree in Human Resource Development from the New School University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Northeastern University. Mr. Nixon has also completed the Advanced Human Resource Management program of Babson College, as well as the certification programs in Organization Development from National Training Laboratories, Systems Thinking from MIT, and the highly acclaimed "Creating Competitive Advantage through Human Resources," program from the University of Michigan's School of Industrial Relations. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), holds SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SCP),a trained Mediator, certified Anger Management facilitator, Security Specialist, Trauma Response Specialist and earned a certificate in Background Investigations from the Public Safety Institute, Santa Rosa College. In addition, he is a member of ASIS International’s Crisis Management Council and served on ASIS International’s Workplace Violence Prevention Guidelines Committee. He represented SHRM on a joint commission with ASIS International to create the first Standard for Workplace Violence Prevention. He is also a member of the Security Executive Council Advising Editors for Security Magazine, the past National President of the American Association for Anger Management Providers and is past Co-Chair, International Committee, National Association for Professional Background Screeners. He is past Board member of Professionals in Human Resources Association, District 14, Chair HR Advisory Board, Cal St. University, Dominquez Hill and is a past member of SHRM’s Employee Health, Safety & Security Special Expertise Panel which provides specialize counsel to the SHRM Board and membership.

As a specialist in workplace violence prevention he has gained a reputation for developing comprehensive programs that are practical in nature and which fit the needs of the client. His Workplace Violence Prevention programs cover the full realm of this troubling issue helping companies to assess their vulnerability, implement readiness programs, establish crisis management teams, train employees and managers, address physical security issues and revise or add new policies to effectively address this critical issue. In essence, he helps organizations to implement an effective program to minimize the likeliness of a major workplace violence incident occurring and to be ready in the event one should actually occur.

He served as the Workplace Violence Prevention consultant for the State of California for over nine years, providing consulting and training to managers and employees. Some of his other clients include Gillette, Canon, Beckman-Coulter, CA Department of Transportation, Southern California Edison, Orange County Sanitation, National Transit Institute, City of Pasadena, AEGON, Blue Shield Foundation, Macy’s, Peterson Brothers Construction, TransAmerica Insurance Companies, Anheuser Busch,District of Columbia Water & Sanitation Authority, etc. He also teaches human resource management courses at several universities.

In addition, Mr. Nixon is a frequently requested speaker both in the US and internationally on the subject of Workplace Violence and Background Screening. He has presented at the World HR Congress held in Singapore and the Annual India’s Pre-employment Conference in Bangalore. He is the creator of the award winning web site www.Workplaceviolence911.com and the leading directory of background screening firms, www.PreemploymentDirectory.com.

He has written three books on workplace violence and ‘Background Screening and Investigations: Managing Risk in the Hiring Process from the HR and Security Perspective.‘ He publishes the industry leading magazine The Workplace Violence Prevention eReport and The Employment Screening Journal

, the first magazine to focus on employment screening processes, practices and resources. He is also the contributing author to The Workplace Violence News published by Specialty Technical Publishers and has appeared on CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal Radio, United Kingdom – National Talk Radio. He previously hosted the popular radio talk show - 'Workplace Violence Today." He was also named as ‘One of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Security’ by Security Magazine in December 2009.