Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Chief, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry

William M. McDonald, MD graduated from Duke University Medical School in 1984 and was a member of the clinical faculty at Duke before moving to Emory in 1993.  He and his wife Jane are both Duke graduates, have been married for 35 years and raised five children. Dr. McDonald is the Fuqua Chair for Late-Life Depression and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory.  He is Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and oversees the extensive inpatient and outpatient geriatric psychiatry services. His research has been supported by funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, the Fuqua Foundation, National Association for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression and a number of private funding agencies.

He is a reviewer for over fifteen national and international scientific journals and serves on a number of national committees including the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Council on Research and the APA Taskforce on the Guidelines for Electroconvulsive Therapy.  Dr. McDonald is a Fellow in the APA and was elected to the American College of Psychiatry in 2009. In 2009- 2010 Dr. McDonald was appointed the Special Advisor to Governor Perdue on Mental Health and worked with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities in the landmark settlement with the US Government to establish crucial community services, including housing, for the persistently mentally ill and developmentally disabled.  Dr. McDonald is serving as President of the Georgia Psychiatric Association (2010- 2011) and is on a number of Emory Hospital and Medical School Committees.  He is Director of Residency Education in Psychiatry and oversees the training of Emory Psychiatry Residents in all clinical rotations including Grady Hospital.