Morton Beiser

Morton Beiser (born November 16, 1936) is a Canadian professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Member of the Order of Canada. He was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.

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Research and contributions

A graduate of the University of British Columbia (MD 1960), Beiser pursued, but did not complete,graduate studies at Duke and Cornell universities, finally being appointed an associate professor at Harvard University in 1971. During his time at Harvard he began research on what would become a life-long fascination with the mental health of immigrants, starting with the health effects of urbanization in Senegal and the mental health of American Indians on reservations.

During the 1980s he continued his research as Principal Investigator for the "Refugee Resettlement Project", a ten-year study of the health and experiences of the "Boat People": immigrants from Southeast Asia to Canada. In 1986, he was appointed chair of a federal government task force on the issue, and in 1988 authored the final report of the committee, After the Door Has Been Opened.

During his tenure at the University of Toronto, Beiser has received over $17 million in research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the United States National Institutes of Health, and other peer-review sources. He has authored more than 150 scientific research papers, a book about the Boat People entitled Strangers at the Gate, and is co-editor of the forthcoming Immigration, Ethnicity, and Health. He also conceived and produced a radio program on immigration in Canada which was aired from 1999 to 2000 in Ontario and Alberta, as well as a version for Canadian students, Strangers Becoming Us, to be used in the classroom, seeking to move his research from the realm of scientific research to policy debate. Strangers Becoming Us is still in use in all public elementary and high schools in Canada.^{[citation needed]}

He lives in Toronto, Canada, and in Grignan, France, with his husband, author J. Timothy Hunt. He has five sons: youth worker David Beiser, journalist Vince Beiser, actor Brendan Beiser and twins Daniel and Rowan Beiser.

Awards, recognition, and residencies

• National Health Scholar and Scientist Awards, Canada’s National Health Research and Development Program (1981-1999)
• Honorary Member, Belgian Royal Society of Medicine (1975)
• Distinguished Scholar Award, Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (1974-1975)
• University of Toronto Beverley Distinguished Professor Award (1988)
• Joey and Tobey Tanenbaum Research Award (1994)
• Rockefeller Foundation Resident Scholar Award (1995)
• Canadian Psychiatric Association Award for Research in Psychiatric Epidemiology (2002)
• Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal (2002)
• Member of the Order of Canada (2004)