List of presidents of the American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. This is a list of presidents of the American Psychiatric Association.

ImageNameTermNotesSamuel B. Woodward 1844–1848 First president, founded as the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane.William Awl 1848–1851 Luther Bell 1851–1855 Isaac Ray 1855–1859 Andrew McFarland 1859–1862 Thomas Story Kirkbride 1862–1870 John S. Butler 1870–1873 Charles Nichols 1873–1879 Clement Walker 1879–1882 J. H. Callender1882–1883 John P. Gray 1883–1884 Pliny Earle 1884–1885 Orpheus Everts 1885–1886 H. A. Buttolph1886–1887 Eugene Grissom 1887–1888 John B. Chapin 1888–1889 W. W. Godding 1889–1890 H. P. Stearns 1890–1891 Organization name changed to American Medico-Psychological Association Daniel Clark 1891–1892 J. B. Andrews 1892–1893 John Curwen 1893–1894 Edward Cowles 1894–1895 Richard Dewey 1895–1896 Theophilus O. Powell 1896–1897 Richard M. Bucke 1897–1898 Henry M. Hurd 1898–1899 Joseph G. Rogers 1899–1900 Peter M. Wise 1900–1901 Robert J. Preston 1901–1902 A. B. Richardson 1902–1903 Died before taking office. G. Adler Bloomer1902–1903 A. E. Macdonald 1903–1904 T. J. W. Burgess 1904–1905 C. B. Burr 1905–1906 Charles G. Hill 1906–1907 Charles P. Bancroft 1907–1908 Arthur F. Kilbourne 1908–1909 William F. Drewry 1909–1910 Charles W. Pilgrim 1910–1911 Hubert Work 1911–1912 James T. Searcy 1912–1913 Carlos Frederick MacDonald 1913–1914 Samuel E. Smith 1914–1915 Edward N. Brush 1915–1916 Charles G. Wagner 1916–1917 James V. Anglin 1917–1918 Elmer E. Southard 1918–1919 Henry C. Eyman 1919–1920 Owen Copp 1920–1921 Albert Moore Barrett 1921–1922 Henry W. Mitchell 1922–1923 Thomas W. Salmon 1923–1924 Mental hygiene advocate and chief consultant psychiatrist to the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I William Alanson White 1924–1925 C. Floyd Haviland 1925–1926 George M. Kline 1926–1927 Adolf Meyer 1927–1928 Samuel T. Orton 1928–1929 Earl D. Bond 1929–1930 Walter M. English 1930–1931 William L. Russell 1931–1932 James Vance May 1932–1933 George H. Kirby 1933–1934 C. Fred Williams 1934–1935 Clarence O. Cheney 1935–1936 C. Macfie Campbell 1936–1937 Ross McClure Chapman 1937–1938 Richard H. Hutchings 1938–1939 William C. Sandy 1939–1940 George H. Stevenson 1940–1941 H. Douglas Singer 1941–1942 Died before taking office. James King Hall 1941–1942 Arthur H. Ruggles 1942–1943 Edward Strecker 1943–1944Graduated from Jefferson University in 1911; professor of mental and nervous diseases (1925-1931) Karl M. Bowman 1944–1946 Samuel W. Hamilton 1946–1947 Winfred Overholser Sr. 1947–1948 William C. Menninger 1948–1949 George S. Stevenson 1949–1950 John C. Whitehorn 1950–1951 Psychiatrist in Chief from 1941–1960 at Johns Hopkins University and the chairman of the Department of Psychiatry Leo H. Bartemeier 1951–1952 Donald Ewen Cameron 1952–1953 Kenneth E. Appel 1953–1954 Arthur Percy Noyes 1954–1955 R. Finley Gayle Jr. 1955–1956 Francis J. Braceland 1956–1957 Harry C. Solomon 1957–1958 Francis J. Gerty 1958–1959 William Malamud 1959–1960 Robert H. Felix 1960–1961 Walter E. Barton 1961–1962 C. H. Hardin Branch 1962–1963 Jack R. Ewalt 1963–1964 Daniel Blain 1964–1965 First medical director of the American Psychiatric Association and founder of the newsletter that became Psychiatric Services Howard P. Rome 1965–1966 Harvey J. Tompkins 1966–1967 Henry W. Brosin 1967–1968 Lawrence C. Kolb 1968–1969 Raymond W. Waggoner 1969–1970 Robert S. Garber 1970–1971 Ewald W. Busse 1971–1972 Perry Clement Talkingten 1972–1973 Alfred M. Freedman 1973–1974 Led the effort to de-classify homosexuality as a mental illness John Patrick Spiegel 1974–1975 103rd president Judd Marmor 1975–1976 Robert W. Gibson 1976–1977 Jack Weinberg 1977–1978 Jules H. Masserman 1978–1979 Alan A. Stone 1979–1980 Donald G. Langsley 1980–1981 Daniel X. Freedman 1981–1982 H. Keith H. Brodie 1982–1983 George Tarjan 1983–1984 John A. Talbott 1984–1985 113th president Carol Nadelson 1985–1986 First female president of the American Psychiatric Association, first female editor-in-chief of the American Psychiatric Association Press, and first director of Partners Office for Women's Careers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Robert O. Pasnau 1986–1987 George H. Pollock 1987–1988 Paul J. Fink 1988–1989 Herbert Pardes 1989–1990 Elissa P. Benedek 1990–1991 Lawrence Hartmann 1991–1992 Joseph T. English 1992–1993 John S. McIntyre 1993–1994 Jerry M. Wiener 1994–1995 Mary Jane England 1995–1996 Harold Eist 1996–1997 Herbert S. Sacks 1997–1998 Rodrigo A. Muñoz 1998–1999 Allan Tasman 1999–2000Daniel B. Borenstein 2000–2001 Richard K. Harding 2001–2002 Paul S. Appelbaum 2002–2003 Marcia Kraft Goin 2003–2004 Michelle Riba 2004–2005 Steven Sharfstein 2005–2006 Pedro Ruiz 2006–2007 Carolyn Robinowitz 2007–2008 Nada Logan Stotland 2008–2009 Alan F. Schatzberg 2009–2010 Carol A. Bernstein 2010–2011 John M. Oldham 2011–2012 Dilip V. Jeste 2012–2013First Asian-American president of the APA Jeffrey Lieberman 2013–2014 Chair of Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, principal investigator for the NIMH CATIE study Paul Summergrad 2014–2015 Dr. Frances S. Arkin professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Tufts University School of Medicine; psychiatrist-in-chief of the Tufts Medical Center Renée Binder 2015–2016 Associate dean of academic affairs, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); forensic psychiatry fellowship director, UCSF Department of Psychiatry Maria A. Oquendo 2016–2017 Frst Latina president of the APA; professor and chairman of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Anita Everett 2017–2018 Chief medical officer, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Director of the Office of Chief Medical Officers (OCMO) Altha Stewart 2018–2019 First African-American president of APA; associate professor of psychiatry and director, Center for Health in Justice Involved Youth, University of Tennessee Health Science Center Bruce J. Schwartz 2019–2020 Deputy chair and clinical director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Montefiore Einstein Medical Center andAlbert Einstein College of Medicine; president of the Montefiore Behavioral Care IPA; medical director and founding member of University Behavioral Associates Jeffery Geller 2020–2021 Director of public sector psychiatry and professor of psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School; medical director and staff psychiatrist, Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital. Vivian Pender 2021–2022 Clinical professor of psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College; training psychoanalyst, Columbia University; founder of Healthcare Against Trafficking; consultant psychiatrist and psychoanalyst to the United Nations Rebecca W. Brendel 2022–2023 Director of the Master of bioethics program, associate director of the Center for Bioethics, and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; director of law and ethics at the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital Petros Levounis 2023–2024 Professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean for professional development at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School; chief of service at University Hospital; director of the Addiction Institute of New York at Columbia University Ramaswamy Viswanathan 2024–2025 153rd president Theresa Miskimen 2025–2026 Current president

References