Ilan H. Meyer, PhD, was awarded a Presidential Citation for his extraordinary contributions to psychological science and public health, toward understanding and improving the lives of sexual and gender minority people.
Starting with his doctoral dissertation, Ilan H. Meyer, PhD, proposed a Minority Stress Theory that predicted health disparities for sexual minority people more than a decade before there was empirical evidence of these disparities. Supported by hundreds of studies and later adapted to apply to gender minority people as well, the Minority Stress Model has been employed by social and health service psychologists, public health professionals, suicidologists and sociologists among others, as a foundational approach to developing methods for addressing the unique needs of LGBTQ+ people. Meyer has also represented the Minority Stress Model in numerous advocacy efforts, most notably in trial court cases, as well as in appellate amicus briefs.
Still, the Minority Stress Model represents only a fraction of Meyer’s contributions to the fields of psychology and public health across a wide array of critical social issues. As a researcher, he has informed the methodology used to study health disparities in sexual and gender minority populations including how to identify members of hidden minorities. He has provided critical mentorship to many of today’s accomplished researchers. And particularly through his work at the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles Law School, he has become a standard bearer in legal advocacy. Through his contributions Meyer has not merely changed these fields, he has led them.
For your significant contributions to psychology and society, I, Rosie Phillips Davis, present this presidential citation to Ilan H. Meyer, PhD.