Steve J. Schwab, MD, executive dean of the UTHSC College of Medicine announced the appointment of James A. Greene, MD, professor, as chair for the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, Memphis.
Steve J. Schwab, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has announced the appointment of James A. Greene, MD, professor, as chair for the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, Memphis, one of three College of Medicine campuses that are part of the UTHSC.
“Our search committee worked very hard to identify candidates from around the United States with the best qualifications to fill this important position,” stated Charles Handorf, MD, professor and chair for the Department of Pathology and chair of the Search Committee. “We unanimously agreed that Dr. Greene has the right mix of practical patient care and business skills needed to manage in a complex medical environment; furthermore, he is highly motivated to advance the educational and research missions of the Department of Psychiatry.”
Interim UTHSC Chancellor Hershel P. Wall said, “Dr. Greene has served admirably as the interim chair for the Department of Psychiatry and has promoted the growth and stability of that department. I am pleased with his appointment as permanent chair for the department and look forward to working with him in that capacity.”
Dr. Greene’s expertise combines his in-depth knowledge of psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, in particular, clinical practice and academic teaching with business experience. Over his 30-year career, he held a variety of private practice and administrative positions, primarily in the South. In 1991, he founded Geriatric Medical Care (GMC), Inc. whose core business was to set up, implement and manage geropsychiatric units within selected hospitals using the clinical modalities and operational and financial strategies to ensure its centers’ success. GMC operated in seven states, including Tennessee, and was affiliated with five medical schools. In 2004, Dr. Greene accepted a position as professor on the UTHSC faculty, and was appointed interim chair of the Department of Psychiatry in 2005.
He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), past-chair of its Committee on Long Term Care and Treatment of the Elderly, current chair of the Committee on Access and Effectiveness of Psychiatric Services, and the representative of the Tennessee Psychiatric Association to the APA Assembly. Dr. Greene was the only psychiatrist named as a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. He received the National Institute of Aging Academic Medicine Award in Geriatric Mental Health and was the charter recipient of the American Geriatrics Society Clinician of the Year Award.
Active with a number of national professional and specialty organizations, Dr. Greene was elected a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and serves on its Long Range Planning Committee. He has just completed his second term on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He is alternate delegate for the American Geriatrics Society to the American Medical Association and represents AAGP in the AMA’s Specialty and Service Societies. Dr. Greene is co-editor and contributor to the Manual of Nursing Home Practice for Psychiatrists.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Dr. Greene completed his residency in psychiatry at Dorothea Dix Hospital, an affiliate hospital of the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Mental Health. He completed a Faculty Development Program in geriatric psychiatry while teaching at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and Tampa Veterans Hospital.