Dr. Allen Dyer, class of 1963

On March 3rd, 2021, the faculty and staff at MCI were fortunate to be in the presence of Dr. Allen Dyer, who offered an extensive training session on the mental and emotional health and well-being during COVID. His workshops offer techniques to mitigate stress/distress, burnout, and vicarious trauma; build capacity of our adults on campus in self-care; build resilience to the impact of disasters; and provide practical skills in helping oneself and others cope with challenges in their lives as a result of disaster. A second workshop took place on March 10th, 2021.

As an alum of MCI, class of 1963, Dr. Dyer has played an integral role in supporting various programs at MCI. Recently, he donated a subscription to Great Book Plus, which provides the newest research and information for students to access, particularly for those students who are working on Manson Essays and Seniors Project.

Dr. Dyer is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vice-chair for Education at George Washington University. His major interests are Global Health and Mental Health, Medical Ethics and Professionalism, cancer survivorship, spirituality and health, and clinical care.

Formerly he was Senior Health Advisor at the International Mental Corps.  Previously he has been on the faculty at Duke University; Albany Medical College, where he served as Associate chair of the department of psychiatry and Chief Medical Officer of the Capital District Psychiatric Center; and East Tennessee State University, where he served as chair of the department of psychiatry.

He received his AB and Master of Medical Science at Brown University, and his MD and his PhD in medical ethics from the department of religion at Duke. While still a resident at Duke, he began his tenure on the APA Ethics committee and the AMA Council on Mental Health.

He is the recipient of several awards including Attending of the Year; Nancy C.A. Roeske Award in Recognition of Outstanding and Sustained Contributions to Medical Education; an Award and Recognition for service to the Iraqi people; and the Bruno Lima award of APA for disaster psychiatry.  He served on the editorial board of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the APA (DLFAPA).

He is the author of several books including Idealism on Medical Ethics: The Problem of the Moral Inversion; Ethics in Clinical Medicine; The Humanities and the Profession of Medicine; Ethics and Psychiatry: Toward Professional Definition; co-author of Concise Guide to Ethics in Clinical Care; and author of One More Mountain to Climb: What my Illness Taught Me About Health.