Members of the late-life mental health community are mourning the loss of geriatric psychiatrist Gene D. Cohen, MD, PhD, a visionary, creative thinker, and a founding father of geriatric psychiatry. Dr. Cohen died peacefully at his Maryland home on November 7.

During his rich career, Dr. Cohen was a teacher, clinician, researcher, administrator, and visionary leader. His pioneering research led him into investigations of depression, dementia, creativity and aging, and innovative intergenerational interventions for Alzheimer’s disease. His advocacy for older adults and their overall well-being led him to creating organizations and groups that will carry on his work.

A staunch advocate for the field of geriatric psychiatry, Dr. Cohen envisioned and proposed the idea for a national center on aging and mental health in 1974. One year later, his vision became reality, and he served as the first chief of the National Institute of Mental Health's Center on Aging, the first such federal center established in any country.

In 1978, Dr. Cohen and a small group of other leaders in the field, including Sanford Finkel, MD, of Chicago, and Robert Butler, MD, of New York, met to form the first national group on geriatric psychiatry, creating the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, now 2000 members strong. Dr. Cohen was instrumental in launching the association’s scientific journal, the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, and served as its first editor-in-chief from 1993 to 2001. “We are all thankful for the life and work of Gene Cohen, and for the enormous legacy he leaves,” AAGP President Charles F. Reynolds, III, MD, commented.

From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Cohen served as acting director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He was the first director of the Center on Aging, Health & Humanities, established in 1994 at George Washington University (GW), where he was a professor of health care sciences and psychiatry and behavioral sciences. He was also involved with the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA), which is dedicated to fostering an understanding of the relationship between creative expression and the quality of life of older people.

A graduate of Harvard and the Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Cohen authored more than 150 publications in the field of aging, including The Brain In Human Aging (1988), The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life (2001), and The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain (2006).

Known for his curiosity, warmth, and intellect, Dr. Cohen will be greatly missed by his colleagues.

The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (www.AAGPonline.org) is a national association representing and serving its members and the field of geriatric psychiatry. AAGP’s mission is to enhance the knowledge base and standard of practice in geriatric psychiatry through education and research and to advocate for meeting the mental health needs of older Americans.

Contact: Kate McDuffie, 301-654-7850, ext. 113, kmcduffie@aagponline.org