Riba, Ruiz Head List Of New APA Officers

Michelle Riba, M.D., of Ann Arbor, Mich., was chosen by APA members to be their next president-elect for the term beginning in May. She defeated Fred Gottlieb, M.D., of Los Angeles with 53.2 percent of the vote.

Riba, who is currently APA’s senior vice president, is the associate chair for education and academic affairs and a clinical associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan and director of the psycho-oncology program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Riba outlined an ambitious agenda for her presidential term in an interview with Psychiatric News. What she most hopes to accomplish during her presidency, she said, is to increase APA’s membership.

“One hundred percent of eligible psychiatrists and trainees must realize the privilege and benefits of belonging to APA, the premier organization of psychiatrists in the world. I plan on working with our membership components” to accomplish this goal.

Apart from strengthening the membership base of APA, Riba also plans to devote attention to key areas within psychiatry, particularly psychiatric education.

“We must reinvigorate our efforts in psychiatric education at the undergraduate, medical school, and postgraduate levels,” she said. “I look forward to working with Jay Scully, M.D., APA’s medical director; and Deborah Hales, M.D., head of APA’s Division of Education, Minority, and National Affairs; and leaders of our psychiatric allied organizations in setting a national agenda for psychiatric education. It is time for a national summit where we can address important topics such as the upcoming Institute of Medicine recommendations on psychiatric research training for adult and child and adolescent residents, funding for psychiatric training, careers in psychiatry, and so on.”

She said she is also “looking forward to working with Darrel Regier, M.D., head of APA’s American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, and the National Institute of Mental Health on effecting some of the upcoming recommendations of the Institute of Medicine Committee report on psychiatric research in adult and child psychiatry residencies, chaired by Thomas Boat, M.D.”

Other areas on which Riba plans to concentrate are public advocacy and funding for mental health care and access to high-quality psychiatric care.

The race to succeed Riba as one of APA’s two vice presidents was won by Pedro Ruiz, M.D., of Houston. He defeated Norman Clemens, M.D., of Cleveland, with 63.8 percent of the vote. Ruiz is currently APA’s secretary, and Clemens is the Area 4 trustee.

Two former speakers of the APA Assembly faced off in the race for secretary. Nada Stotland, M.D., of Chicago prevailed with 63.1 percent of the vote, defeating Al Herzog, M.D., of Hartford, Conn.

Tanya Anderson, M.D., of Chicago won the seat on the Board of Trustees for ECP (early career psychiatrist) trustee-at-large. She defeated Charles Price, M.D., of Reno, Nev., with 61.6 of the vote.

The race for member-in-training trustee-elect had three candidates this year, with Susan Rich, M.D., of Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., emerging as the winner. Taking 51 percent of the votes cast on the first round of counting, she defeated Christopher (Drew) Ramsey, M.D., of New York Presbyterian Hospital/New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City, and William C. Wood, M.D., of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. Wood came in second, with 30.5 percent of the vote.

Three of APA’s seven Areas elected a trustee this year. Donna Norris, M.D., of Wellesley, Mass., was chosen Area 1 trustee over Jack Brandes, M.D., of Toronto. She garnered 65.5 percent of the vote.

Sidney Weissman, M.D., of Chicago emerged as the victor in the race for Area 4 trustee with 56 percent of the vote. He defeated Michael Pearce, M.D., of Indianapolis.

Incumbent Al Vogel, M.D., of Albuquerque defeated Nady El-Guebaly, M.D., of Calgary, Alberta, for Area 7 trustee. Vogel had 68.2 percent of the vote.

The tenure of the newly elected Board members begins at the close of APA’s 2003 annual meeting in May. At that time the current president-elect, Marcia Goin, M.D., will become APA president.

APA members also passed an amendment to the Association’s Bylaws reducing the size of the Board of Trustees by two positions and adding the immediate past president to the Executive Committee.

As currently constituted, the Board has 21 voting members. Beginning with the 2004 election, one of the vice-president positions will be eliminated. The first member to serve as secretary-treasurer will be nominated for treasurer in 2003, elected in 2004, and become secretary-treasurer in 2005, at the conclusion of the last secretary’s term. The first members to run for the position of secretary-treasurer will be nominated in 2005 for APA’s 2006 election.

The addition of the immediate past president to the Executive Committee in 2003 brings its membership total to nine. However, effective in May 2005, when the transition to the Board’s new composition is complete, the Executive Committee will have seven members: the president, president-elect, vice president, secretary-treasurer, speaker of the Assembly, and the immediate past president, who are voting members, and the medical director, who is not a voting member.

The amendment passed by an overwhelming majority, with 92.6 percent of the voters supporting it.

This year, there were 30,206 eligible voting members. Of that number, 33.9 percent, or 10,252, voted.

Detailed election results appear in the chart below. ▪