June Jackson Christmas, M.D.

1995 Solomon Carter Fuller Award Recipient

Lecture Title: Can Psychiatry Serve Tomorrow's Black Families: Challenges for a Profession in Transition

Dr. Christmas earned her B.S. degree in zoology from Vassar College in 1945 and her M.D. degree in psychiatry from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1949. Dr. Christmas completed her psychiatric residencies at Bellevue Hospital and Queens General and trained in psychoanalysis at the William Alanson White Institute.

Dr. Christmas was Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Science at the City University of New York, and a practicing psychiatrist. From 1972 to 1980, she served as New York City Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Alcoholism Services. Dr. Christmas headed President Carter's Transition Group, developing policy options for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and was Executive Coordinator of the Task Panel on Community Support Systems of the President's Commission on Mental Health.

Dr. Christmas was an early member of the Black Psychiatrists of America (BPA), vice president of the APA from 1974–75, a Distinguished Life Fellow, and the recipient of the Solomon Carter Fuller Award in 1995.