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Source: Dean M. De Crisce, MD, AAFS Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Section Board Representative

                   Richard E. Rosner, MD

In honor of National Forensic Science Week, the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences section at AAFS is recognizing Dr. Richard E. Rosner as an individual who has made an astounding impact in his discipline over the course of his career.

Richard E. Rosner, MD, has been an influential and foundational figure in American forensic psychiatry. Now partially retired, Dr. Rosner has spent much of his career training other forensic psychiatrists in his position as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at New York University (NYU), Director of the NYU Forensic Psychiatric Fellowship Training Program, and Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Court Clinic of Bellevue in downtown Manhattan. Dr. Rosner has been a Distinguished Fellow and past President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (1996-1997), the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry (ASAP), the Accreditation Council on Fellowships in Adolescent Psychiatry, the Committee on Accreditation of Fellowships in Forensic Psychiatry, the Association of Directors of Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships, and other organizations. He has authored standard and highly regarded textbooks in forensic psychiatry (Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry), adolescent psychiatry, and addiction psychiatry used by professionals throughout the United States, as well as numerous articles and book chapters on various topics in psychiatry, including competency, education, methodology, juvenile delinquency, and the ethics of psychiatric practice. Dr. Rosner has received countless awards for his contributions to the field, including the prestigious American Psychological Association (APA) Isaac Ray Award, APA’s Manfred Guttmacher Award, AAPL’s Golden AAPL Award, Seymour Pollack Award and Distinguished Service Award, AAFS’ Maier I. Tuchler Award in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and ASAP’s William Schonfeld Award and Herman Staples Award.

In his position as founding president of the Committee on Accreditation of Fellowships in Forensic Psychiatry in 1989, Dr. Rosner created standards for forensic psychiatric training in North America, which continue to set the standard for these programs and the field. His standards, methods, ethics, and approach to the field has influenced at least 30 years of forensic psychiatrists (and other forensic mental health professionals) in the United States and elsewhere. To those that he has directly taught, he has encouraged involvement in teaching, research, academic pursuit, and organizational leadership as well continuous learning and the evolution of one’s knowledge in human behavior, ethics, and philosophy. Dr. Rosner has been a living example of all these aspirations and a towering inspiration to all who know him.