Dr. Gail Wyatt, distinguished professor emeritus of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was selected to receive the Association of Black Women Physicians’ 2025 Humanitarian Award.
The association recognized Wyatt for extraordinary contributions to addressing women’s health disparities, trauma and domestic violence prevention, as well as her “profound influence as a scholar, mentor and humanitarian.”
“Dr. Wyatt’s work has transformed the way we understand the impact of domestic violence and trauma,” the association’s president-elect Dr. Anastasia Williams said in a statement. “Her groundbreaking research, mentorship, and advocacy have created an enduring legacy of healing and empowerment.”
Among Wyatt’s many accomplishments cited by the association included:
Being the first African American psychologist licensed in California and the first African American to hold an endowed chair in psychiatry at UCLA Health, the Dena Bat Yaacov Endowed Chair
Founding the Center for Culture, Trauma, and Mental Health Disparities and Sexual Health Programs at UCLA
Longstanding NIH funding since 1980
Developing groundbreaking interventions for HIV-positive women and African American couples
Testifying before U.S. Congress on women’s health and policy issues, including the Violence Against Women Act hearings
Author of six books and over 300 peer-reviewed publications
Wyatt received the award at the association’s annual charity and scholarship luncheon on Oct. 26 in Los Angeles. Her acceptance speech highlighted the notion, “I am because we are and because we are, I am,” — a contextual creation of self-identity and purpose that requires compassion for others as a critical element to self-development. Wyatt stressed that without a group identity, people can easily focus only on themselves and develop a callousness and cruelty that we see daily today.
“We can do better,” Wyatt said.