John Sadler, M.D.

Biography

John Z. Sadler, MD,  Director of the Program in Ethics in Science & Medicine and Chief of the Division of Ethics in the Department of Psychiatry is internationally acclaimed for his work  in the fields of Philosophy and Ethics of Psychiatry. He is co-founder and treasurer of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy & Psychiatry, an organization dedicated to exploring conceptual issues at the interface of psychiatry and philosophy, and is on the Executive Board of the International Network of Philosophy and Psychiatry. Dr. Sadler is co-editor of an international journal, Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, the Current Opinion in Psychiatry section on History & Philosophy, and the Oxford University Press book series, “International Perspectives on Philosophy and Psychiatry”, which currently has published 50 volumes. Dr. Sadler’s work prompted the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians to award their Psychiatric Excellence Award to him in 2001. Dr. Sadler’s ongoing work in the education of medical students, residents, and practitioners has earned him several teaching awards, including the Nancy C.A. Roeske Certificate of Excellence in Medical Education from the American Psychiatric Association, appointment as a UT System and UT Southwestern Distinguished Teaching Professor, election to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society anno domini, and an inaugural recipient of the UT Health Science System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012. In 2014 he was awarded the Distinguished Clinical Science Educator Award from the UT Southwestern Academy of Teachers, and in 2014 he was designated a Distinguished Life Fellow from the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Sadler has edited or co-edited several books, several special issues of professional journals, and authored Values and Psychiatric Diagnosis (Oxford University Press, 2005). In collaboration with philosopher Jennifer Radden, he co-authored The Virtuous Psychiatrist: Character Ethics in Clinical Practice. In 2013 Dr. Sadler was a co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and in 2015 he was the lead editor of the 2-volume, 1700 page Oxford Handbook of Psychiatric Ethics, the definitive reference work in the field. Dr. Sadler has published dozens of articles and chapters in the area of clinical psychiatry, psychiatric education, bioethics, and the philosophy of psychiatry. Since 1985, he has served on the Parkland Hospital & Health System Institutional Ethics Committee and since 1989 has served as its co-chair and the clinical ethics consultant to the hospital. Dr. Sadler received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and trained in psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center before joining the faculty in 1984.

In 2018, he was named a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly.