New Orleans child psychiatrist Walter W. Shervington, M.D., who last August was elected president of the National Medical Association, the country’s largest organization of African-American physicians, died of cancer last month at age 62.

Shervington was the chief executive officer of the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, a psychiatric facility. In conjunction with his interest in the mental health aspects of AIDS and HIV infection, he was a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National AIDS Advisory Committee and the New Orleans Regional AIDS Planning Council. He was also an associate psychiatry professor at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine.

Shervington, who was a fellow of both APA and the American College of Psychiatrists, formerly served as a regional medical director for Louisiana’s Office of Mental Health and in 1992 was tapped by the governor to be the assistant secretary of that office. Away from the psychiatric arena, Shervington once served on the Board of the San Francisco Ballet.

Prior to his election as National Medical Association president, Shervington served as chair of its Section on Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, speaker of its house of delegates, and vice president. He was only the second psychiatrist elected president of that organization. (Leonard Lawrence, M.D., was the first.)

APA Medical Director Steven Mirin, M.D., noted that Shervington "was a leader not only in our field but in medicine generally. His energy and commitment will be sorely missed by his colleagues and by all the patients for whom he was a powerful and effective advocate."

Shervington "was a man of great charm, wit, and grace," said his close friend and New Orleans colleague Irma Bland, M.D. "He was a bold man who, without exception, spoke out for what he believed, and he was particularly committed to the betterment of black people, their health, mental health, and the quality of their lives."

For William Lawson, M.D., of Indianapolis, and for Bland, Shervington was one of the first black psychiatrists they met. Lawson observed Shervington in action at a meeting of the Black Psychiatrists of America at Shervington’s home.

"I was most impressed with his ability to reconcile disparate aspects of the field," he said. "He was both a successful clinician and had also trained at NIMH, which was an impressive combination. . . ."

Shervington served as an effective "bridge" between psychiatry and the rest of medicine, Lawson added.

"Walter lived a good life, achieved his dreams, and made substantial contributions professionally," Bland emphasized. "And he realized the one dream that he worked the hardest for—his picture on the cover of the Journal of the National Medical Association as its 99th president."

Shervington’s family asked that those who wish to make a contribution in his name do so to the National Medical Association’s Building Fund at 1012 10th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. 

More information on Shervington and the National Medical Association is posted at the Web site <www.nmanet.org>.