The earliest reference to the Illinois Psychiatric Society occurs in a letter of September 24, 1936, from Dr. Jacob Kasanin of Michael Reese Hospital to Dr. Charles F. Read, managing officer of Elgin State Hospital. “There is a great need for a society for the exchange of psychiatric ideas and opinions, and most of the psychiatrists in Chicago are enthusiastic about it,” Dr. Kasanin said.

A second letter dated two years later listed psychiatrists who might be invited to the organization meeting but suggested caution in selecting charter members, “as undoubtedly there will be a great deal of opposition to organization of the Society.” The nature of the opposition was not specified.

The organization meeting took place on October 18, 1938 at the Palmer House and was attended by 22 psychiatrists. There were: Drs. Franz Alexander, Waler H. Bare, Peter Passoe, Morris Braude, Douglas G. Campbell, Thomas M. French, Francis J. Gerty, Ray Grinker, Ralph C. Hamill, Jacob Kasanin, A. A. Low, Warren G. Murray, Clarence Neymann, Lewis J. Pollock, Leon Saul, Paul L. Schroeder, David Slight, Alfred Solomon, Meyer Solomon, Conrad S. Sommer, George Wilson, and M. Douglas Singer, who presided.

The group designated a temporary council to draw up a constitution and bylaws, to select charter members, and to set a time for the next organizing meeting. Dr. Singer was elected chairman of the temporary council and Dr. Sommer, secretary; other members were Drs. Gerty, Hamill, Kasanin, Neymann, and Slight. This council met that same evening, prepared a constitution and bylaws, arranged for them to be sent to each charter member, and set the next organizing meeting for the first Thursday in December.

The second meeting took place at the Palmer House on December 1st. Of approximately 100 who had been invited, approximately half attended. The constitution and bylaws were amended and accepted and officers were elected to serve for 16 months, until April 1940. These were Dr. Singer- President, Dr. Hamill, Vice-President, Dr. Sommer, Secretary-Treasurer, and Drs Bassoe and Slight, Councilors. A discussion of the stigma associated with commitment to mental hospitals led to the appointment of a committee to investigate procedures in other states and to recommend changes for Illinois. Members of the committee included Dr. French, Chairman, and Drs Gerty, Low, Neymann, and Slight.

The first regular monthly meeting of the new Society was held on January 5, 1939, in the Medical and Dental Arts Building. Dinner (at $1.03 including tax and tip) was served. The meeting was attended by about 225 psychiatrists. Eight names were recommended for membership and two for junior membership. The scientific program included a presidential address by Dr. Singer and a symposium on the physiological action of insulin and Metrazol as used in shock therapy by Drs S. Soskin, E. Gellhorn, and R. Gerard. An assessment of $2.00 was voted to defray the expenses of entertaining members of the APA during its annual meeting in Chicago the following May.

Meetings were also held in Chicago in February and March. The first meeting outside of Chicago was held at Manteno State Hospital in April 1939. At a meeting later that year, in October, a memorial obituary to Dr. Sigmund Freud was read by Dr. Alexander.

Though the years the membership of the Society has reflected the full range of psychiatric viewpoints. The scientific programs have included a wide variety of topics, including new therapeutic procedures, various physiological, psychoanalytic, pharmacological, neurological, and psychological studies, and discussions of the relationships between psychiatry and other professions, including the law. The membership has included nearly all of the leaders in psychiatry in Chicago and many who have been prominent in the APA and elsewhere on the national scene.

The Society’s first president, Dr. Singer, was elected president of APA but died before taking office. The fourth president, Dr. Gerty, served as president of APA in 1958-1959. Other Presidents of the Society have been Drs. Charles Read, Walter Bare, and Dr. Clarence Neymann, David Slight, John Madden, Joseph Luhan, Ralph Hamill, David Rotman, Benjamin Boshes, V. G. Urse, D. Louis Steinberg, William Haines, Jules Masserman, Alfred P. Bay, H. H. Garner, Percival Bailey, Roy R. Grinker, Hugh T. Carmichael, Kalman Gyarfas, Nathanial Apter, Frances Hannett, Joel Hankler, Melvin Sabshin, Lester Rudy, Arthur Miller, and John Adams.

In 1941 the Society became an affiliate of APA and in 1957 a district branch. It was approved to process APA membership applications jointly with its own membership applications in 1964. In 1966 it became incorporated in Illinois as a nonprofit organization.

The 73 psychiatrists who attended the first regular monthly meeting in January 1939 are considered to be charter members. Another 45 became members later that same year. As of January 1966, 50 of the 73 charter members were living. Three of these had become life members; 26 were active members, one was an associate, 10 had resigned as nonresidents, and 11 had dropped their membership.

The Society membership as of January 1966 was 475, of whom 441 were also APA members. Current officers are Dr. Harold Visotsky, President; Dr. Robert Daniels, Secretary; Dr. William Spriegel, Delegate; and Dr. Thomas Tourlentes, Alternate Delegate.

Report Published May 1966 - Prepared by William B. Spriegel M.D.

Founding Members of IPS

Dr. Jacob S. Kasanin

Past Presidents of the IPS

2022-23 Abdi Tinwalla, MD

2021-22 Steven Weinstein, MD

2020-21 Susan Scherer, MD

2019-20 Hossam Mahmoud, MD

2018-19 Joshua Nathan, MD

2017-18 Danesh Alam, MD

2016-17 Ryan Finkenbine, MD

2015-16 Jeffrey Bennett, MD

2014-15 James MacKenzie, DO

2013-14 Linda Gruenberg, DO

2012-13 Peter Fore, MD

2011-12 Sheldon Miller, MD

2010-11 Jagannathan Srinivasaraghavan, MD

2009-10 Lisa Rone, MD

2008-09 Sheldon Miller, MD            

2007-08 Daniel J. Anzia, MD           

2006-07 Daniel Yohanna, MD          

2005-06 Surinder Nand, MD            

2004-05 Joan Anzia, MD   

2003-04 Ronald Baron, MD             

2002-03 Earl Loschen, MD

2001-02 Ken Busch, MD   

2000-01 Shastri Swaminathan,MD

1999-00 Arden Barnett, MD             

1998-99 Sidney Wesissman, MD

1997-98 Valerie Davis Raskin, MD

1996-97 Pauline R. Langsley, MD

1995-96 Daniel J. Luchins, MD

1994-95 Judith S. Lichtenstein, MD

1993-94 Robert C. Powell, MD,PhD

1992-93 Richard K. Baer, MD

1991-92 Robert E. Becker, MD

1990-91 Sara C. Charles, MD

1989-90 Nada L. Stotland, MD

1988-89 David R. Hawkins, MD

1987-88 Hazel S. Mrazek, MD

1986-87 Anthony M. D'Agostino, MD

1985-86 L. David Zinn, MD

1984-85 William B. Spriegel, MD

1983-84 L. David Zinn, MD

1982-83 Edward A. Wolpert,MD,PhD

1981-82 Robert De Vito, MD

1980-81 James L. Cavanaugh,Jr,MD

1979-80 Patrick R. Staunton, MD

1978-79 Jerome S. Beigler, MD

1977-78 Jerome S. Beigler, MD

1977-78 Roy R. Grinker, MD

1976-77 Alex J. Spadoni, MD

1975-76 Francois E. Alouf,, MD

1974-75 Jan A. Fawcett, MD

1973-74 George H. Pollock, MD

1972-73 Sheppard G. Kellam, MD

1971-72 Daniel X. Freedman, MD

1970-71 Jackson A. Smith, MD

1969-70 Thomas T. Tourlentes, MD

1968-69 Leroy P. Levitt, MD

1967-68 Robert S. Daniels, MD

1966-67 Jack Weinberg, MD

1965-66 Harold M. Visotsky, MD

1964-65 John R. Adam, MD

1963-64 Arthur A. Miller, MD

1962-63 Lester H. Rudy, MD

1961-62 Melvin Sabshin, MD

1960-61 Josel S. Handler, MD

1959-60 Frances Hannett, MD

1958-59 Nathaniel S. Apter, MD

1957-58 Kalman Gyarfas, MD

1956-57 Kalman Gyarfas, MD

1955-56 Hugh T. Carmichael, MD

1951-52 William H. Haines, MD

1950-51 D. Louis Steinberg, MD

1949-50 V.G. Urse, MD

1948-49 Benjamin Boshes, MD

1947-48 Ralph C. Hamill, MD

1946-47 Joseph A. Luhan, MD

1945-46 John J. Madden, MD

1944-45 David Slight, MD

1943-44 Clarence A. Neymann, MD

1941-42 Francis J. Gerty, MD

1940-41 Walter H. Baer, MD

1939-40 Charles F. Read, MD

1938-39 H. Douglas Singer, MD