Thomas Szasz

Dr. Szasz is Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York, Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., author and lecturer. His classic The Myth of Mental Illness (1961) made him a figure of international fame and controversy. Many of his works—such as Law, Liberty, and Psychiatry, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, Ceremonial Chemistry, and Our Right to Drugs—are regarded as among the most influential in the 20th century by leaders in medicine, law, and the social sciences.

Born in Budapest in 1920, Thomas Szasz came to this country in 1938 from his native Hungary and within a few months was admitted to the University of Cincinnati. After graduating with honors in Physics in 1941, he entered the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati and won his M.D. degree in 1944. Later, Szasz took his psychoanalytic training at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and for the next five years was a member of its staff—taking twenty-four months out for active duty with the U.S. Navy. 

A Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Life member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Dr. Szasz has published frequently in leading medical, psychiatric, and psychoanalytic journals.  

Dr. Szasz joined the CCLE's Board of Advisors in 2000.