February 7: Altha Stewart, MD

Altha J. Stewart, MD

Altha J. Stewart, MD is Senior Associate Dean for Community Health Engagement, Director, Public and Community Psychiatry, and Director, Center for Youth Advocacy and Well-Being at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In the College of Medicine, she works to promote increased engagement with the community related to improving overall health and well-being for all residents and reducing health disparities. She leads the department of psychiatry’s efforts to create a community psychiatry fellowship program to expand the local behavioral health workforce. A graduate of Temple University Medical School, she completed residency at Drexel University, and has led large public mental health systems in Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. 

Dr. Stewart is currently president of the American Association for Community Psychiatry. This followed her historic election in 2017 as the 145th President of the American Psychiatric Association, where she was the first African American ever elected as president in the 175-year history of the organization. She is also past president of the Black Psychiatrists of America, Association of Women Psychiatrists, and American Psychiatric Foundation. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she is a native of Memphis, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Regis College in 2006 and Doctor of Science from her alma mater, Christian Brothers University in Memphis in 2018, and is an honorary member of the South African Society of Psychiatrists.