Menninger Clinic 100th Anniversary

Menninger Roundtable

Dr. W. Walter Menninger and former staff share memories of working at the renowned Menninger Clinic before it left Topeka in 2002. Event co-hosted by Shawnee County Historical Society.

Jon Allen, Dr. Marceil Bauman-Bork, David Parker and Dr. Ira Stamm will join Dr. W. Walter Menninger in this round-table discussion about working at The Menninger Clinic.

Jon Allen retired from his staff psychologist position in 2016 after 40 years at The Menninger Clinic. For the past several years he continued to teach and consult at the clinic. In addition to conducting diagnostic evaluations and psychotherapy throughout his tenure, he participated in the development of a specialized treatment program for trauma, patient education and university teaching (KU, K-State and Washburn). Allen authored many books for professionals and patients. He continues to lecture locally, nationally and internationally. After the clinic’s move to Houston, Allen led a hospital-wide effort to research the effectiveness of treatment showing dramatic improvement over the course of hospitalization that was sustained at follow-up a year later.

Dr. Marceil Bauman-Bork, psychiatrist – Prior to becoming co-founder of the Heritage Mental Health Clinic, Bauman-Bork had an 18-year career at The Menninger Clinic. Over the years, her roles included lead psychiatrist at the Menninger Outpatient Clinic, director of General Psychiatry Training at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and team leader of the Professionals in Crisis unit. She has been in private practice since 2001.

Dr. W. Walter Menninger, psychiatrist, educator & author – "Dr. Walt" is a third-generation member of a family credited with changing the shape of modern psychiatry. In 1925, his grandfather, father and uncle established the Menninger Clinic in Topeka. Dr. Walt served as Dean of the Menninger School of Psychiatry, chief of staff of the Menninger Clinic, and president and CEO of Menninger, the position he held until his retirement 2001.

An expert in forensic psychiatry, Dr. Walt was a consultant to the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Through the U.S. Public Health Service, he was the chief medical officer in a federal reformatory and served as a psychiatrist for the Medical Program Division of the Peace Corps in its formative days. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to serve on the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, the first psychiatrist to be named to a national investigatory commission by a U.S. President.
 
With an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, Dr. Walt has received five additional honorary degrees. He describes his greatest accomplishment the family he and his beloved wife Connie raised together, the parents of seven children, including a child who died in infancy. At 92, he continues to live independently in Topeka, working out with his trainer, enjoying the company of those who love him, and participating in many community organizations.

David Parker has an undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and a Master's Degree in Social Work from The Ohio State University. Following his graduation from OSU, Dave served as a social work officer at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. He moved to Topeka in 1970 for a post-master's social work program at Menninger. After graduating from this program, Parker joined the staff and remained until his retirement in May 2001. During his tenure at Menninger he worked in the adult hospital, the diagnostic service, the drug and alcohol program, the community service office, and the adult outpatient clinic.

Ira Stamm, Ph.D., ABPP – In 1972 Ira and his wife, Joanna, a social worker, came to Topeka for Ira to complete a two year training program as a post-doctoral fellow in Clinical Psychology at the Menninger Foundation. After completing the two year Post-Doctoral program, Ira was offered two positions, one at Tufts University Medical Center in Boston, the other in the Adult Hospital and Outpatient Department at Menninger. Ira remained at Menninger for 23 years leaving in 1995 to enter private practice first in Overland Park and then and now in Topeka.

At Menninger, Ira also completed the educational programs of the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Marriage and Family Therapy Training Program. He cared for patients in three units of the Adult Hospital and as a Director of an Adolescent Unit in the children’s Hospital. Throughout his career he taught and supervised trainees and staff from different disciplines. Ira served as a consultant on difficult treatment cases and was known and honored for his teaching and writings on several occasions. 

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