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 ...

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. 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 1948 and received his M.D. degree from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

,

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

in 1952, at age 23. He did an internship at

Kings County Hospital Center Kings County Hospital Center is a municipal hospital located in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is owned and operated by NYC Health + Hospitals, a municipal agency that runs New York City's public hospitals. It has ...

. From 1953–1955, he served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

leaving the service with the rank of Lt. (J.G.) in the

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

. After the military service, he underwent a specialty training in psychiatry and psychoanalysis at

Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research The Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research was founded in 1945. It is part of the Department of Psychiatry of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Training It offers training in adult and ch ...

.

Career

In 1973, Altshuler joined the Columbia University faculty where he focused on the research of mental illnesses among

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

patients and in

geriatric psychiatry Geriatric psychiatry, also known as geropsychiatry, psychogeriatrics or psychiatry of old age, is a branch of medicine and a subspecialty of psychiatry dealing with the study, prevention, and treatment of neurodegenerative, cognitive impairment ...

. From 1973–1977, he managed undergraduate education in psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. In 1977, he left Columbia University and moved to Texas. He became the chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at

UT Southwestern Medical Center The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 ...

in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. There, he expanded the faculty from five to over one hundred full-time physicians and raising fifty-two million dollars in departmental endowments, including funds for ten chairs and two research centers. He retired in 2019, and was appointed a

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of Psychiatry. He served as a director of the

National Board of Medical Examiners The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), founded in 1915, is a United States non-profit which develops and manages assessments of student physicians. Known for its role in developing the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) i ...

, as a president of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry in 1990–1991, as a board member and later, in 1996, a president of the

American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. (ABPN) is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1934 following conferences of committees appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Neurological Association, and the t ...

. In 1999, he was appointed to the board of the

Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

, by then-Governor

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and served for five years. He also served on the boards and advisory boards of the local psychiatric and charity organizations.

Personal life

He had three children from his first marriage, Steven L. Altshuler,

Lori L. Altshuler Lori Altshuler (August 23, 1957 – November 5, 2015) was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and held the Julia S. Gouw Endowed Chair for Mood Disorders. Altshuler w ...

and Dara Altshuler, and six grandchildren. In 1987, he married Ruth Collins Sharp, an American philanthropist. He and his wife were known for their

civic engagement Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

activities in

North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...

, including to

UT Southwestern The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 23,000 employees, more than 3,000 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient ...

. After his wife died in 2017, he established a fund at UT Southwestern, the Ruth & Ken Altshuler Fund for Clinical Psychiatry and the Kenneth Z. Altshuler Fund for Psychiatric Education, to support clinical research and education programs related to mental illness. Altshuler died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on January 6, 2021, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Texas The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its ...

.

Awards and honors

* Merit Award of the

National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis The National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) is an institution in New York City founded by Theodore Reik in 1948, established in response to the controversy over lay analysis and the question of the training of psychoanalyst ...

* Honorary Doctorate of Science from the Gallaudet College for the Deaf * Certificate of Special Achievement by the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...

for contribution to the program for the deaf in New York * Certificate of Special Recognition by the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...

for contribution to the Community Mental Health program in Dallas * Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of Buffalo School of Medicine * Trail Blazer Award by the Dallas Community Mental Health Center * Wilson Award in Geriatric Psychiatry * Psychiatric Excellence Award from the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians * Texas Star Award from the Texas Mental Health Association * Outstanding Psychiatric Award from the North Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians * Prism Award from the Dallas Mental Health Association * The Psychiatric Out-Patient Clinic of Dallas Community Mental Health Center is named in his honor * The Psychiatric Unit of Zale Lipshy Pavilion is named in his honor * The Callier Center for Communication Disorders at

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private res ...

established an annual award bearing his name – the Ruth and Ken Altshuler Callier Care Award * The Metrocare Services established a research center bearing his name – the Altshuler Center for Education and Research * Dallas County Mental Health and Mental Retardation renamed one of its clinics in his honor – the Kenneth Z. Altshuler Mental Health Clinic

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altshuler, Kenneth Z 1929 births 2021 deaths Physicians from Dallas Physicians from Paterson, New Jersey Military personnel from Paterson, New Jersey American psychiatrists Cornell University alumni University at Buffalo alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center faculty Sleep researchers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Awards and honors

See also

References