Silva is Chair Professor at the University of Madrid, Spain. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Munich in 1975, a Ph.D. from the University of Madrid in 1977, and a Psy.D. from the University of Valencia in 1989. He has held teaching positions at the University of Chile; the Catholic University of Chile; the Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, Munich; and the University of Valencia. He is currently an executive committee member of the European Association of Psychological Assessment, Division II, Psychological Assessment of the International Association of Applied Psychology.