James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936), also known as Jim Dobson, is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by "The New York Times" while "Slate" portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.