WPA Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Professors Mario Maj and Norman Sartorius
The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has honoured Professor Mario Maj and Professor Norman Sartorius with the WPA Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of their outstanding leadership and enduring contributions to psychiatry and mental health worldwide.
Established at the initiative of Professor Danuta Wasserman, WPA President 2023–2026, the award recognises individuals whose exceptional leadership, sustained excellence and lasting contributions have profoundly advanced their field. It celebrates a lifetime of achievement distinguished by innovation, integrity, service and an enduring impact on future generations.
During the 2023–2026 triennium, the Award was conferred on Professors Maj and Sartorius, two former WPA Presidents whose work has had a major influence on the development of psychiatry internationally.
Professor Mario Maj
Professor Mario Maj served as WPA President from 2008 to 2011 and as President of the European Psychiatric Association from 2003 to 2004. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli” in Naples, Italy, and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health in Naples.
Professor Maj is also the Founder of World Psychiatry, the official journal of the WPA, which has become the no. 1 journal in psychiatry for impact factor, and one of the world’s leading scientific journals. His scientific work has made major contributions to the classification, assessment and treatment of mood disorders, schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders.
Professor Norman Sartorius
Professor Norman Sartorius served as WPA President from 1993 to 1999 and as President of the European Psychiatric Association from 1999 to 2001. He previously served as Director of the World Health Organization’s Division of Mental Health and has held professorial appointments at universities around the world.
Throughout his career, Professor Sartorius has led major international research programmes addressing schizophrenia,
depression, mental disorders in primary care and mental health-service delivery. He has also been a prominent global
advocate for reducing the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness and has mentored generations of psychiatrists and mental health professionals internationally.
Through their decades of scientific leadership, service and advocacy, Professors Maj and Sartorius have made an enduring contribution to the WPA and to the advancement of mental health worldwide.
23 
