First African American President of the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatrist, Professor & Pioneer in Minority Mental Healthcare, Children Focused Non-Profit Founder

Selecting Institution: Christian Brothers University 

After graduating Christian Brothers University in 1973, Altha Stewart, MD went on to become a nationally and internationally recognized expert in public sector and minority issues in mental health care and in the effects of trauma and violence on children.

Her dedication to public medicine is clear in her efforts to bring together education, health, family, and legal agencies to create a community-wide resource for families with children impacted by violence. 

Dr. Stewart is an associate professor of Psychiatry and chief of Social and Community Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She served as president of the American Psychiatric Association from 2018 to 2019, and was the first African American elected to lead the 38,000-member organization since its start in 1844. She has also served as president of the Association of Women Psychiatrists and the Black Psychiatrists of America.