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George Bartholow, M.D., whose career was dedicated to public psychiatry and treating the severely mentally ill, was honored posthumously with the Area 4 Warren Williams Award at Area 4's Council meeting in March in Chicago.
Bartholow was working as a clinical director of a regional state hospital when a former V.A. patient shot him for no apparent reason in October 1996.
Michael Pearce, M.D., Area 4 representative to APA's Assembly, presented the award to Bartholow's widow, son, and daughter in recognition of his "long career in public psychiatry and caring for the chronically mentally ill; university teaching and mentoring of residents and early career psychiatrists; and many
years of service to Area 4, including as a representative of the Nebraska Psychiatric Society to the Assembly."
The Warren Williams Award is given annually by each of APA's seven Area Councils in recognition of outstanding contributions to psychiatry by individuals or groups.
Bartholow was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University in Omaha, where he taught for more than two decades, according to Richard Finn, M.D., deputy representative from the Iowa Psychiatric Society. Finn had known Bartholow since medical school.
"He was a top-notch recruiter of undergraduates for careers in psychiatry. It is remarkable how many APA members come from one of those two schools," Finn said.
"He was beloved by young psychiatrists because of his work and support of members-in-training, including helping them get started in practice."
Bartholow was also a frequent examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for several years and chief of psychiatry at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Omaha.
Pearce said, "We in Area 4 were devastated by his loss. The Council elected to establish a memorial fund in his name to honor a young early-career psychiatrist or member-in-training who shows promise in treating the chronically mentally ill."
Pearce said the Area 4 Council plans to announce the award this year, which will include a certificate and check.