Dr. Muñoz was born in the Republic of Colombia, received his M.D. degree at the University of Cauca in Colombia and interned at the University Hospital of Cauca and at a mental hospital in Medellin. He received residency training at the Fairfield State Hospital, Connecticut (1964–65) and at Washington University in St. Louis (1967–69). He worked at the Malcolm Bliss Mental Health Center in St. Louis as Assistant Director of Residency Training. In 1970, he moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, as a staff psychiatrist at the local hospital and mental health center and, in 1977, moved to southern California. He was in private practice and on the faculty of the University of California Los Angeles and later in San Diego.
Dr. Muñoz was President of the San Diego Medical Society and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, Delegate to the House of Delegates of the California Medical Association and the AMA, and member of the Academy of Community Psychiatry, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American School Health Association and the American Geriatric Society. He received the Distinguished Clinical Teacher Award of the University of California San Diego, where he is a clinical professor, as well as the Outstanding Leadership Award of the California Medical Student Association, the Simon Bolivar Award, and the George Tarjan Award.
Dr. Muñoz contributed to the psychiatric literature with numerous publications, usually of a clinical research nature. Early in his career, he was co-author of “Diagnostic Criteria for Use in Psychiatric Research,” the most influential predecessor of DSM-III. His book, “Boarding Time,” helped more than 15,000 psychiatrists obtain their ABPN certification.
One of the most important achievements was the reorganization of the APA into four different corporations: the “APA OF THE MEMBERS, APIRE (AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION), APPI and the APA FOUNDATION. The BOT passed the necessary actions at the beginning of Dr. Muñoz's presidency and the implementing actions during his term in office. Dr. Munoz also proposed initiatives leading to interaction with the business community to improve services for psychiatric patients and was one of the leaders in the fight against abuses by managed care organizations. Two achievements during Dr. Muñoz’s Presidency were the initial development of Quality Indicators for Clinical Work and the clinical exploration of patient centered systems of health finance.
Dr. Muñoz was the first Latino President of the APA. As the author of a number of international initiatives, he was successful in obtaining agreements among more than 20 Latin American countries to adopt international criteria for national psychiatric certification. During his presidency and for a number of years thereafter, Dr. Muñoz worked on international agreements on psychiatric treatment, continued medical education and international programs for psychiatric career development.
Dr. Muñoz served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1998-99).