Ronald Mandersheid, PhD
2009 Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient

Dr. Ronald Manderscheid's career spans the public, private, and academic sectors. He has served in numerous leadership roles at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)--both components of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). He served for many years on the faculty of the University of Maryland where he taught statistics, sociology, and social organization. He currently is the Executive Director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

While at NIMH, Dr. Manderscheid served as a researcher in the Biopsychosocial Research Program, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Julius Axelrod, a prominent Nobel Laureate in brain chemistry. He also served as chief of evaluation research and as a founding chief of the mental health services grant and intramural research program. At SAMHSA, Dr. Manderscheid led the national mental health statistics and informatics programs as well as efforts to integrate mental health and substance use care services with primary care, and to develop a national training agenda for the mental health field. He also served on the Clinton Health Care Reform Taskforce, and as a Senior Policy Advisor on Health Care Reform in the Office of the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health.

Dr. Manderscheid's life-long interests in mental health encompass policy, research, and services. He is known both nationally and internationally throughout the mental health field as a leader who works with all groups to advance mental health research, care, and the wellbeing of mental health consumers in the community.  He is particularly noted for his work with the consumer and family communities and for introducing consumer participant in federal workgroups and consumer assessments of the mental health care.  Such assessments are now commonplace in the field.