Robinowitz Chosen Next President-Elect

APA Secretary-Treasurer Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D., chalked up a decisive victory in the race to become APA's next president-elect, winning 76.1 percent of the vote. Her opponent was Jack Drescher, M.D., of New York City.

“My first task,” Robinowitz told Psychiatric News,“ will be to assist incoming president Pedro Ruiz achieve his goals for universal access, comprehensive parity, and humane care—goals that mesh with my focus on effective advocacy for our profession and our patients—and on increasing the value of APA membership.

“I will also concentrate on communication and collaboration by improving interactions with members and providing more just-in-time information and materials, while enhancing members' participation in policy development and implementation. I also want to enhance collaborations with psychiatric subspecialty organizations to multiply our effectiveness in public information and mental health policy, as well as developing partnerships between scientists and clinicians to promote professionalism and quality patient care.”

Robinowitz, of Bethesda, Md., is in private practice of adult, child, and adolescent psychiatry and has held leadership posts in organizations representing a broad cross-section of the field. She was the founding director of APA's Office of Education, APA senior deputy medical director and chief operating officer, academic dean at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and a past president of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is also a member of the AMA Council on Science and Public Health.

In the race to succeed Robinowitz as secretary-treasurer, Area 1 Trustee Donna Norris, M.D., of Wellesley, Mass., outpolled Prakash Desai, M.D., of River Forest, Ill., by 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. Both Norris and Desai are former speakers of the APA Assembly.

Every three years, there is an election for the early career psychiatrist (ECP) trustee-at-large. (APA has three trustees-at-large who serve three-year terms, with one of these positions up for election each year. One position is designated for an ECP.) In this year's election, Amy Ursano, M.D., an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, defeated Richard Granese, M.D., of Orange, Calif. Ursano received 67.4 percent of the vote to Granese's 32.6 percent.

The contest to be the next member-in-training (MIT) trustee-elect was the closest race this year. The winner, Abigail Donovan, M.D., a resident at Massachusetts General and McLean hospitals, bested Anjali Nirmalani, M.D., a resident at the University of South Florida. Of the 912 votes cast, Donovan garnered 50.3 percent, while Nirmalani received 49.7 percent. Only MITs vote in this race.

Three APA Areas had elections for their trustee position this year.

In Area 1 Jeffrey Geller, M.D., of Worcester, Mass., won 59.6 percent of the vote against opponent Patricia Recupero, J.D., M.D., of Providence, R.I.

In Area 4 two Chicagoans were competing. With 52 percent of the vote, incumbent Sidney Weissman, M.D., defeated Tanya Anderson, M.D.

In Area 7 William Womack, M.D., of Seattle outpolled Louis Moench, M.D., of Salt Lake City. Womack received 69.7 percent of the vote.

All of the new officers and trustees will take office in May at the end of APA's 2006 annual meeting in Toronto. Also at that time President-elect Pedro Ruiz, M.D., will become president, and Lysiane Ribeiro, M.D., now the MIT trustee-elect, will become the member-in-training trustee.

Of the 30,306 APA members eligible to vote in the the 2006 election, 9,819, or 32.4 percent, returned their ballots, generally in line with totals over the last five years. During the 1980s and 1990s, however, the percentage of members who voted was usually in the 40 percent range.

The option of voting online continues to gain in popularity. After last year's big jump, which saw about 23 percent of voters submitting online ballots, 28.3 percent chose to do so this year. In the 2004 election, only about 9 percent of members voted online.

The Tellers Committee presented these results to the Board of Trustees on March 5. ▪