Elyn Saks Named the 2023 President's Awardee
Elyn Saks is Orrin B. Evans Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the USC Gould School of Law; Director of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics; Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the UC San Diego, School of Medicine; and Faculty at the New Center for Psychoanalysis. She served as USC Gould's associate dean for research from 2005-2010 and also teaches at the Keck School of Medicine. Saks received her JD from Yale Law School, and a PhD in Psychoanalytic Science from the New Center for Psychoanalysis. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LLD, Hon) from Pepperdine University.
Saks writes extensively in the area of law and mental health, having published five books and more than fifty articles and book chapters. Her research has included the ethical dimensions of psychiatric research and forced treatment of people with mental illness. Her memoir, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, describes her struggles with schizophrenia and her managing to craft a good life for herself in the face of a dire prognosis. She has won numerous honors, including a 2009 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (the so-called “Genius Grant”). The Saks Institute was founded in 2010 using funds from the grant.
A Message from Merete Nordentoft, SIRS President
The SIRS president award for 2023 is given to professor Elyn R. Saks who is associate dean and Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School. Elyn Saks graduated from Yale Law School in the United States, teaches law, psychology and psychiatry at the University of Southern California Law School, and she is a recipient of many honors, including the Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health and the prestigious MacArthur fellowship, awarded to people who exhibit extraordinary ability and dedication in their field. She used the funds from the MacArthur Fellowship to create the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at USC, a think tank that studies issues at the intersection of law, mental health, and ethics.
When I was appointed professor in 2008, professor Josef Parnas gave me the fantastic memoir from Elyn Saks, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness. It made a huge impression on me, and worldwide, her memoires transformed our thinking about mental illness. It has even been used as manuscript for an opera. The book includes a strong description of Elyn Saks’ lifelong struggle with schizophrenia as well as experiences with misguided or harmful treatments. Moreover, Elyn Saks writes extensively in the area of law and mental health, having published five books and more than fifty articles and book chapters. Her research has included the ethical dimensions of psychiatric research and forced treatment of people with mental illness. Saks is leading a study with a multidisciplinary team of colleagues to understand better high-functioning schizophrenics, a largely unexamined area.
Elyn Saks has given several impressive TED talks, viewed by millions, and she is a very strong advocate for better treatment and more rights for people suffering from schizophrenia.
The presidential award is given to her for her lifelong struggle to improve the conditions for people suffering from schizophrenia and to fight against the stigma associated with the disorder.
Recently, Elyn Saks has challenged the term schizophrenia, which she considers misleading and stigmatizing and she encourages professionals and users to collaborate about finding a better term.
