Skyland Trail Announces Dorothy C. Fuqua Lecture Series

, a non-profit treatment facility for adults with mental illness, is excited to announce the inaugural lecture for the “Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Lecture Series at Skyland Trail,” to be held Oct. 26 at 6:30pm.

Dr. Mark Rapaport, a distinguished academic leader in the study and treatment of mental illness, has been selected to give the address. Rapaport will begin his tenure as the chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine on Sept. 15.  

“We are so pleased that Mark will be giving the first lecture in this series,” Skyland President Beth Finnerty said in a statement. “Mrs. Fuqua has been a timeless advocate for mental illness, so it’s fitting that we hold an annual educational event in her honor, sharing insight and information with our colleagues and the community."

The lecture series is a gift created to honor Fuqua’s 90th birthday from her son and daughter-in-law, Rex and Duvall Fuqua, and longtime Skyland Trail supporters Edwina and Tom Johnson. The lecture series celebrates Fuqua's longtime support and dedication to Skyland Trail as well as her commitment to recovery for those with mental illness.  

This lecture is free and open to the public, but a reservation is needed and space is limited. Please call Marci Healy at 678-686-5922 or mhealy@skylandtrail.org.

Before coming to Emory, Rapaport served as the Polier Family Chair in Schizophrenia and Related Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai, and vice chair and professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at University of California, Los Angeles. A board-certified psychiatrist, Rapaport has trained and mentored students, physicians and researchers in the field of psychopharmacology. His research focuses on the biologic genesis of anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression and immunity abnormalities in schizophrenia.