G. Richard Smith, M.D., is professor and Marie Wilson Howells Chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the UAMS College of Medicine.

Dr. Smith, a native of Jonesboro, Arkansas., received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical biology from Rhodes College in Memphis. He was a medical student, intern and resident at UAMS. Upon completion of his fellowship at Strong Memorial Hospital (Rochester, NY) in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, Dr. Smith returned to UAMS in 1981. He is married to the Reverend Canon Susan Sims-Smith, a social worker and psychotherapist for 25 years, and currently an Episcopal priest. They have one daughter.

A UAMS faculty member and distinguished scientist for almost 25 years, Dr. Smith developed several programs at UAMS, including what was then the Centers for Mental Healthcare Research and is now the Department of Health Services Research, the nation’s largest research group dedicated to mental health and substance abuse services research. Dr. Smith was the founding director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. and a leader in securing the state’s tobacco settlement to improve health care for Arkansans.

The UAMS Department of Psychiatry provides quality psychiatric care to the people of Arkansas, and works to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Psychiatry department clinicians treat more than 1,200 patients a day. Treatment programs include the Programs for Adults, Programs for Young Adults, Child Study Center, the Substance Abuse Treatment Clinic, Student and Faculty Wellness Program, and inpatient programs for adults and adolescents.

UAMS trains the majority of medical professionals in the state. Through the Department of Psychiatry’s award-winning education programs, these professionals receive the latest information on psychiatric research and evaluation. The Department’s research component is nationally known and competes for millions of dollars in grants each year. Research through the UAMS Department of Psychiatry touches the lives of people across the country, in every demographic.

William G. Reese, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Medicine for 31 years, became the first faculty member to hold the chair in 1982. In 1985, Frederick G. Guggenheim, M.D., became the second chair because of his nationally recognized dedication to the field of psychiatry. G. Richard Smith, M.D., became the current departmental chair in 2001.