Dwight L. Evans died unexpectedly at his home in Newtown Square, a suburb of Philadelphia, on November 19, 2022, at the age of 75. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Elisabethtown College, received an MS degree from Bucknell University, and his MD degree from Temple University. He received his psychiatry residency training at the University of North Carolina which was completed in 1979. He was quickly appointed to the faculty at UNC and I had the distinct pleasure of working with him, first at UNC and for the many years that followed. I first met Dwight in the office of Morrie Lipton, MD, Ph.D., a former ACNP President, and together with Arthur Prange, Jr, MD, another former ACNP president, we collaborated on many research projects that culminated in many publications in the American Journal of Psychiatry and in other high ranking journals in our field. It is said of many men that he was “a gentleman and a scholar” but I can think of no such individual more deserving of the description than Dwight. He was my first inpatient attending psychiatrist at UNC and it would not be an overstatement to say that his clinical mentorship formed the foundation of what expertise I may have developed in clinical psychiatry. In the many hours we spent together from those days forward, both professionally and socially, he exuded a grace and wisdom; a voice of reason in even chaotic and crisis situations. He was the first person outside of my immediate family to see each of our children, literally standing outside the labor and delivery suite. We spent many days together fishing with our children in faraway places including Alaska. After my son’s untimely death, he sent an orchid to our home every year for 25 years commemorating that day.

Dwight was remarkably understated as regards his own accomplishments, almost to a fault, as he spent much of his professional energy promoting the careers of his colleagues and mentees. He served as the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida from 1992–1997 and was then recruited to lead the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, a position he held from 1997–2016. Having been one of the longest-serving psychiatry chairs in the history of Penn Medicine, he remained on the faculty as the Roehrhoff Professor of Psychiatry. His research accomplishments in the area of stress, depression, and more specifically in the psychiatric manifestations of HIV are manifold and he was continuously funded by NIMH with a recent successful competitive renewal of his center grant. For both his research and leadership accomplishments in the field, he was recognized by his peers in being the recipient of the William C. Menninger Memorial Award from the American College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association Research Award, the Mentorship Award from the APA/American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry, the American College of Psychiatrists Award for Research in Mood Disorders and others. He served as President of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American Foundation for Suicide Foundation. He also served on the board of several organizations including the AFSP, the National Network of Depression Centers, the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and the APA Council of Research. He was a fellow of the ACNP and was accepted into membership in 1992. He published a remarkable number of original research papers in the very best journals in our field.

In spite of all of these accomplishments and accolades, Dwight was remarkably selfless, humble, kind, and above all devoted to his family and friends. He was the first to step up to help a friend in need, whether the need was medical referral or simply support during a difficulty personal or professional period in their lives. In the days since his death, I have had multiple ACNP members come up to me (at the recent annual meeting) to inform me of how Dwight had reviewed their department for their Dean or had helped nominate them for ACNP membership or interceded to help in a family crisis. Above all, however, in his life was his family-his wonderful wife of 52 years, Jan, and their 4 fabulous children: Liz, Meridith, Ben, and Chris, their spouses, and his 5 grandchildren. We have lost the doctor’s doctor, a devoted friend, husband, father, and grandfather. He will be sorely missed by all.