Dr. Ewalt was born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and received his M.D. from the University of Colorado (1933). He remained in Colorado to take residency and serve as a Commonwealth Fellow at the State Psychiatric Hospital (1934–39). He completed psychoanalytic training at the Boston Institute in 1957.
After residency, Dr. Ewalt moved to the University of Texas Medical School as an Associate Professor and Administrator until 1950, when he moved to Houston as Dean of the Postgraduate School of Medicine. In 1951, he moved to Massachusetts as Commissioner of Mental Health (1951–58), and he was Director of the Boston Mental Health Center (1958–73), Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and then named Bullard Professor (1958–76). He served as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at Havard Medical School (1973–76), and after 1976, he was Director of Mental Health Services in the Veterans Administration.
Dr. Ewalt’s skill and service as a teacher, organizer, and administrator had a major impact on American psychiatry. His service as Director of the Joint Commission of Mental Health (1956–62) changed the course of mental health organizations in the United States and led to federal legislation heralding the community mental health movement. He was active in professional organizations, including the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the National Association of Mental Health. He was President of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1963–64) and published nine books, including two text books on psychiatry and one on administration, twenty-two book chapters, and 140 articles.
Dr. Ewalt served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1963–64).