Joseph H. Autry III, M.D.
Deputy Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Dr. Joseph H. Autry III is a psychiatrist, a member of the federal Senior Executive Service and currently the Acting Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more than 25 years, Dr. Autry has held key leadership positions in mental health and substance abuse research, policy and administration and has also maintained a private psychiatric practice.

Following a psychiatric residency for the National Institute of Mental Health and St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C., Dr. Autry served as Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, and Chief of Psychiatry at the Naval Operations Base in Norfolk, Virginia, and as Staff Psychiatrist at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. He served as Psychiatric Consultant to several private and community mental health and substance abuse programs before coming to the Washington, D.C. area to join the National Institute of Mental Health.

Bringing the dual perspectives of an active practitioner to the work of federal agencies addressing mental health and substance abuse issues, Dr. Autry served as the Associate Administrator for Policy Coordination for SAMHSA's predecessor agency and also served in a variety of leadership roles in the National Institute for Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

• Director of the Division of Applied Research
• Director for the Division of Extramural Research Programs
• Assistant Chief for the Clinical Research Branch
• Executive Secretary for the Program Projects and Clinical Research Centers Review Committee
• Coordinator for the Mental Health Clinical Research Centers Program
• Collaborator for the Treatment of Depression Research Program
• Chief of the Behavioral Medicine and Psychobiological Processes Section
• Chief of the Institute's Depression Section
• Research Psychiatrist for the Biological Research Section

In 1990, Dr. Autry was appointed as the Director of what is now the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's Division of Workplace Programs. As Director of the Division of Workplace Programs, Dr. Autry was responsible for the implementation of the Executive Order requiring federal agencies to establish comprehensive drug-free workplace plans and, more recently, for the first research effort to examine successful models of substance abuse prevention and early intervention under managed care benefits provided by private and public sector employers. He oversaw the management of the Division's National Laboratory Certification Program, which assures the scientific integrity of the employee drug tests performed for the federal government and for private sector employers with the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs and a system of training for laboratory inspectors and Medical Review Officers. He also oversaw the operations of the Workplace Help line, a resource for employers and others interested in addressing substance abuse in the workplace.

Dr. Autry also consults with other federal agencies on issues related to mental health, substance abuse and the workplace. In 1994, he served as the convener of an inter-agency panel created by the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and authored its report and recommendations on a Federal Initiative to Encourage Private Sector and Non-Federal Public Sector Substance Abuse Workplace Efforts. He serves as a technical advisor to the U.S. Department of Transportation on its drug and alcohol testing program and on related issues, such as implementation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provisions regarding testing reciprocity. Dr. Autry has served as the Department's representative on several special projects, including joint work with Russian public health officials on substance abuse prevention and treatment matters. For the past eight years, Dr. Autry has served as a member of the Public Health Service Quality Review Panel, which reviews liability claims and tort actions against Public Health Service health practitioners. He has served as Chair of the Panel for the past four years.

During 1997-98, Dr. Autry served as the Acting Deputy Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention during a period of leadership transition and briefly returned to direct the Division of Workplace Programs before being asked to serve as the Deputy Administrator in 1999. He is currently the Acting Administrator.

Dr. Autry was graduated from Rhodes University in Memphis, Tennessee, where he majored in chemistry and psychology, and from the University of Tennessee Medical School. He was the recipient of several awards and fellowships and has published and presented numerous articles on schizophrenia, depression, behavioral medicine and substance abuse prevention and treatment in the workplace. Dr. Autry lectures and teaches frequently on mental health and substance abuse issues, Medical Review Officer practice and related topics.