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Background Information

Charles W. Landis, MD

The Landis Memorial Lecture was created within the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation (formerly the State Medical Society Foundation,) by Mrs. Mary Landis of Elm Grove, Wisconsin, as a tribute to her husband, Charles W. Landis, MD. Dedicated to professional and public education programs relating to psychiatry and mental health, the memorial lecture reflects Doctor Landis's perspective that life has many faces.

As the first Director of Mental Health for Milwaukee County from 1958 to 1970, Doctor Landis reshaped Milwaukee's mental health services. He melded custodial care with outpatient day care and linked medical college faculty with patient care at the county mental health complex that now bears his name. He served in private practice and in leadership roles in national medical and psychiatric associations, county and state medical societies, the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Medical college of Wisconsin. Landis was a major force for improving the teaching and practice of psychiatry and changing public perception of mental illness and health.

Coming into medicine after naval service in both theatres in WWII, Doctor Landis was widely recognized for his knowledge and insight. His life exuded both passion and compassion. He had a remarkable ability to synthesize complex issues and to find humor in most of life's situations.

He offered his personal love and care to family, friends, colleagues and patients. To follow his example is our privilege.