Candidates Announced for APA’s 2022 Election
Abstract
Candidates must follow new campaign rules that are meant to level the playing field for all candidates.
There are 15 candidates vying for national and Area office in APA’s 2022 election. Below are their names and the offices for which they are running.
The campaigning rules that candidates must follow are different from those for previous elections. In December 2020, the Board of Trustees voted to launch a two-year pilot campaign plan for candidates to start with the 2022 election. Under the new rules, all campaigning is prohibited except through APA-managed activities and other activities as the APA Elections Committee may permit.
The changes are meant to level the playing field for all candidates and ensure that APA’s leadership reflects the diversity of the APA membership and thus includes candidates who are from minority and underrepresented groups. The new process was recommended by the APA Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry, appointed by then President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H.
These are the approved APA-managed campaign activities:
Live “Meet the Candidates” town halls will be held during the campaigning period (see below). These one-hour sessions will be open to all APA members. Members may submit questions before the town halls here or during the town halls. Sessions will be recorded and posted on the APA election website for viewing by members who are unable to participate in the live sessions.
A “special edition” APA election newsletter of candidates’ platforms will be emailed to all voting members on December 1.
Psychiatric News will publish the names and photos of the candidates and election details in its December issue.
APA’s election website will be expanded to serve as a centralized location for all election and candidate-related information. Information includes candidates’ biographical statements and photographs. The site will go live in early December.
As the election guidelines on the facing page indicate, no other forms of campaigning are permitted, such as letters, phone calls, emails, and messages on APA listservs by or on behalf of candidates.
Sanctions for violations are included in the new guidelines.
All voting will be by electronic ballot. Beginning January 3, ballots will be emailed to all eligible voting members with a valid address on file with APA; they may also go to psychiatry.org/election and use their member login information to access their electronic ballot.
Paper ballots will be mailed only to eligible voting members who request them by contacting the APA Election Office through January 10 at [email protected].
The deadline for online voting is Monday, January 31, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Also, paper ballots must be postmarked by that deadline.
If you have any questions, contact the APA Election Office at [email protected]. ■
Candidates in APA’s 2022 Election
Below are the names of the candidates and the offices for which they are running. The slate was approved by the Board of Trustees last month.
President-Elect
Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A.
James B. Potash, M.D., M.P.H.
Treasurer
C. Freeman, M.D., M.B.A.
Richard F. Summers, M.D.
Trustee-at-Large
Samuel O. Okpaku, M.D., Ph.D.
Michele Reid, M.D.
Area 3 Trustee
Kenneth M. Certa, M.D.
Geetha Jayaram, M.B.B.S., M.B.A.
Mark S. Komrad, M.D.
Area 6 Trustee
Mary Ann Schaepper, M.D., M.Ed.
Shannon Suo, M.D.
Barbara Yates Weissman, M.D.
Resident-Fellow Member Trustee-Elect
Faiz Kidwai, D.O., M.P.H.
Mary-Anne Hennen, M.D.
Seth L. Daly Stennis, M.D.
Schedule for ‘Meet the Candidates’ Town Halls
APA members will have an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates and ask questions in a series of virtual town halls next month. Below is the schedule:
President-elect, treasurer, and trustee-at-large: December 13
Area 3 trustee (elected by Area 3 members): December 14
Area 6 trustee (elected by Area 6 members): December 15
Resident-fellow member (RFM) trustee-elect (elected by RFMs): December 16
The town halls will be moderated by the chair and members of the Elections Committee. Candidate presentations of five to seven minutes will be followed by a question-and-answer session that includes questions from the committee and APA members; members may submit questions in advance here or during the town halls. To attend the town halls, please RSVP by visiting the APA election website psychiatry.org/election. A registration link will be emailed to you in early December.
For members who can’t attend the town halls, they will be archived on the APA election website.
