Dr. Geller is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Medical Director of the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, a 290 bed public psychiatric hospital serving adults and adolescents. Prior to taking this position, Dr. Geller spent 25 years as the Director of Public Sector Psychiatry at UMMS.
Dr. Geller is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Prior to assuming his position on the APA Board of Trustees as President-Elect, Dr. Geller spent 11 of the past 13 years on the Board as Area 1 Trustee or APA Vice President. Dr. Geller has served in the APA Assembly in various roles, including on the Assembly Executive Committee, for 18 of the past 25 years. He has been the Personal Accounts column editor for Psychiatric Services since the inception of this column in 1994. He has also been a Psychiatric Services book Book Review Editor. Dr. Geller has served on multiple components of the APA, most particularly those focusing on public sector psychiatry and global psychiatry.
Dr. Geller has served as a consultant to 26 states and a number of foreign countries. He is the author of over 125 referred journal articles and coauthor of the book, Women of the Asylum. In the Clinton health reform era, Dr. Geller served as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy fellow in the US Senate. Currently, Dr. Geller serves on the SAMHSA National Advisory Council as well as on the boards of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, Clubhouse International, Genesis Club, Treatment Advocacy Center and World Federation for Mental Health. He has been a leader, nationally and internationally, in making the provision of care and treatment to persons in the public sector with serious mental illness a respectable and respected specialization.
Awards and Honors
- 2018 Profiles in Courage Award: American Psychiatric Association Assembly
- 2014 Human Rights Award: American Psychiatric Association
- 2010 Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for Public Sector: Massachusetts Psychiatric Society
- 2006 Ronald A. Shellow Award: American Psychiatric Association Assembly
- 2005 Torrey Advocacy Commendation Award: Treatment Advocacy Center
- 2003 Arnold L. van Ameringen Award for Psychosocial Rehabilitation: American Psychiatric Association
- 1999 President's Award for Public Service: University of Massachusetts
- 1996 Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America: Myers Center
- 1992 Exemplary Psychiatrist Award: National Alliance on Mental Illness
- 1990 Walter E. Barton Award: American College of Mental Health Administration
Education
- High School Diploma, George W, Hewlett High School (Hewlett, NY)
- Bachelor of Arts, Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
- Doctor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA)
- Masters of Public Health, Harvard University (Boston, MA)
- Medical Internship, Philadelphia General Hospital
- Residency in Psychiatry, Beth Israel Hospital (Boston, MA)
- NIMH Fellowship in Psychiatry in Primary Care, Beth Israel Hospital (Boston, MA)