Dr. Solomon was born in Hastings, Nebraska, educated in Los Angeles, and received his B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley and his M.D. (1914) from Harvard. He interned for a year at Boston Psychopathic Hospital, followed by a year of residency, and remained at the hospital until 1958, rising to be Superintendent and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In 1958, Dr. Solomon left the hospital to become State Commissioner of Mental Health (1958–67). He continued his professional work as a consultant and teacher after he moved to Southern California.
Dr. Solomon’s early interests were in research, especially in seeking a cure for syphilis through malaria therapy, which led to the publication of several books. While APA President, he startled the psychiatric community by declaring, "The large mental hospitals are antiquated, outmoded, and rapidly becoming obsolete; they should be liquidated.” Dr. Solomon pointed to the future of community psychiatry.
Dr. Solomon exerted leadership in American psychiatry through his presidencies at the American Psychopathological Association, the American Neurological Association (1941), the Association for Biological Psychiatry, and the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Diseases. He embodied the skills of a successful teacher, researcher, and administrator.
Dr. Solomon served as the President of the American Psychiatric Association (1957–58).