Dr. Sacks was born in New York, received his A.B. in 1948 from Dickinson College, and an M.D. from Cornell Medical School in 1952. He interned at Yale-New Haven Medical Center (1952–53), followed by a residency at the Yale Psychiatric Institute. He was a USPHS Fellow at the Yale Child Study Center (1955–57) and received psychoanalytic training at the Western New England Institute (1957–63). He served in the Navy (1944–46).
Dr. Sacks was clinical director of the Midfairfield Child Guidance Center (1957–59) and was a consultant to New Haven Family Service (1957–61), the Harvard Medical School experiment in International Living (1962–69), and to the U.S. Peace Corps (1962–69). He worked actively with the State Department for International Development, where he was co-director of the Yale-U.S. Agency for the Senegal River Integrated Development Project in West Africa. This project dealt with the aftermath of a great drought in the 1970s and spending time in the area. The project involved the World Bank, WHO, Ministries of Health, and the Medical Faculties of the Universities of Dakar and Abidjan. He taught at Yale Medical School since finishing his residency and was elected Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. He also authored several books, many articles, and reports.
Dr. Sacks was active in professional organizations, a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the African Psychiatric Association, the AOA, and the AMA. He was a Connecticut delegate to the APA Assembly of District Branches and President of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society (1976–77).
Dr. Sacks was very involved with confidentiality issues in the APA. He was a member of the National Commission on the Confidentiality of Health Records, served on the Board of Directors (1976–80), and testified before Congress.
Dr. Sacks served as an APA Trustee, Vice President of the American Psychiatric Association, and President (1997–98).