Class of 1967

A. DAVID MANGELSDORFF tackles post-disaster mental health issues.

"We often think that people are fragile," says Dr. Mangelsdorff, a professor and civilian health psychologist with the Army-Baylor graduate program in health and business administration at the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. "But as I've studied disasters, I've been struck by how resilient humanity is. If people practice and prepare, they can get through. But if community leaders don't practice and don't read the reports, then there may be problems, as we saw in New Orleans."

Mangelsdorff has been researching military psychology, national security and homeland defense for more than 30 years and has authored more than 500 papers and presentations. His latest book, Psychology inthe Service of National Security, is a follow-up to the Handbookof Military Psychology, which was translated into Chinese in 2004. "Historically, mental health is the last thing looked at in disaster preparation," says Mangelsdorff, who organized a conference last April to examine the mental health consequences of disasters such as the Oklahoma City bombing and Hurricane Katrina.