Past APA President Wins Leadership Award

Former APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D., was presented with the Leadership Award for Outstanding Leadership, Mentorship, and Guidance to the Field of Psychiatry at a recent meeting of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry (AACDP). The award was presented by past AACDP President Mark Rapaport, M.D., chair and chief of psychiatric services at Emory University School of Medicine, and AACDP Secretary/Treasurer Britta Ostermeyer, M.D., M.B.A., the Paul and Ruth Jonas Chair in Mental Health and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

Alonso Nichols

Summergrad is the Dr. Frances S. Arkin Professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and psychiatrist-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center. He is also a past president of the AACDP.

In his award lecture, Summergrad discussed the central characteristics of an effective leader, including the importance of character, vision setting, value articulation, clear message communication, and tolerance to adversity. He emphasized the critical importance of a leader’s interest in “the common good” and in taking pleasure in the accomplishments of others. He warned about a number of elements that can lead to leadership fatigue, including repetitive challenges, faculty division, and inadequate resources. ■