Calvin R. Sumner, M.D.

Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. is board-certified in Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry with a diverse career in academic medicine, medical research, administration, and clinical psychiatry. He is currently the President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and holds an adjunct faculty position at Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. He recently retired from his adjunct associate professor position at West Virginia University, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry where he formerly served on the full-time faculty as director of the psychiatry residency training programs and Chief of the Psychiatry section.

FEATURED GAP THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
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FROM THE BLOG
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GAP BY THE NUMBERS

GAP is composed of over 200 leaders in psychiatry who come together twice a year to debate and think through pertinent issues in psychiatry.

200
1946

Founded in 1946, the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry grew out of the successes in providing modern psychiatric care to our soldiers in the field during World War II. 

32

Our 32 committees consider issues ranging from psychopharmacology to the ethical and moral issues inherent in the practice of a field fraught with technical and human pitfalls.

GAP IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

Are Your Guns Safe in Your Home?
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Health and Value In Psychiatry: What's It Worth To You?
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What Is the Pseudo-Psychiatric Term Excited Delirium?
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Raising Red Flags: Psychiatrists' Role in Reducing Gun Violence and Shaping Gun Control Policies'
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The organization of GAP was not a revolution. With the deepest sincerity, the founding group was seeking a way in which American psychiatry could give more forceful leadership, both medically and socially. Although the name may sound presumptuous, it was chosen because of the sense of great urgency that psychiatry should advance, and the belief that by hard work, and teamwork, we could help it do so.
— Dr. William Menninger

Born October 15, 1899 in Topeka, Kansas.

Died September 6, 1966 in Topeka, Kansas.

Dr. William Menninger

Dr. Menninger was a founding member of GAP. He is known as one of the key influences in the development of a psychiatric guide which later became known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.