Gerald L. Klerman (1928 – April 3, 1992) was an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and researcher whose work included the development of

interpersonal psychotherapy Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a brief, attachment-focused psychotherapy that centers on resolving interpersonal problems and achieving symptomatic recovery. IPT is an empirically supported treatment (EST) that follows a highly structured and ...

, a short-term treatment for depression. He was chief of the US national mental health agency from 1977 to 1980.

Early life and education

Klerman was born in New York City. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1950 and was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society, and graduated from

New York University School of Medicine The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU G ...

in 1954. After a year-long

medical internship A medical (or surgical) intern is a physician in training who has completed medical school and has a medical degree, but does not yet have a license to practice medicine unsupervised. Medical education generally ends with a period of practical tr ...

Bellevue Hospital Center Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

in New York, he went on to complete his psychiatry residency at the

Massachusetts Mental Health Center The Massachusetts Mental Health Center is a historic psychiatric hospital complex at 75 Fenwood Road in the Longwood medical area of Boston, Massachusetts. The center was founded in 1912 as the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. Its original mai ...

in Boston.Keller, MB (December 1992). "In memoriam: Gerald L. Klerman, MD, 1928–1992." ''

Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology The ''Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins covering clinical psychopharmacology. It was founded by Richard I. Shader, MD in 1981 as the first journal of an internati ...

'' 12 (6): 379-81.

Career

Klerman's expertise included depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. From 1966 to 1970 he was on faculty at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

where he also held the position of director of the university's mental health center. He subsequently worked at Harvard.Lambert, Bruce (April 5, 1992).
Gerald L. Klerman, 63, an Expert On Depression and Schizophrenia
. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved June 28, 2011. From 1977 to 1980, he was the head of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, appointed by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

. Klerman's second wife,

Myrna Weissman Myrna Milgram Weissman is Diane Goldman Kemper Family Professor of Epidemiology in Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia ...

, was his collaborator for his work in interpersonal psychotherapy. Following a long history of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, Klerman died of

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

on April 3, 1992, in New York City.

Books authored

* ''Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression'' (with Myrna M. Weissman, Bruce J. Rounsaville, and Eve S. Chevron), 1984. * ''Contemporary Directions in Psychopathology: Toward the DSM-IV'', 1986. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klerman, Gerald American psychiatrists 1928 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American physicians Cornell University alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine