Rankin, Robert Michael, M.D., Capt, MC, USN, (Ret.)

Dr. Mike Rankin is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a mentor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
He was in the Navy as a medical officer from l964 to l996 and served on ships and with the Marines in Vietnam and elsewhere.

Before moving to Virginia in 2000, he was Chief of Psychiatry and Mental Health Services at the VA Medical Center in Oakland, California. In that role, Dr. Rankin cared for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental disorders, as well as vets and active duty military men and women living with the AIDS virus. An "Outward Bound" program he created for these vets, which included taking them white water rafting, and rock climbing in Yosemite, won national recognition. Under President Clinton, Dr. Rankin was a member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, and chaired the National Jewish Committee on HIV and AIDs in the l990's.

He is a life member of the Jewish War Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America, and the Disabled Veterans of America. He is also a member of the Alexander Hamilton Chapter of the American Legion. Dr. Rankin serves as Vice President of the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance. For this organization, he leads a Veterans Day Memorial Service in Washington every year, in memory of all the GLBT men and women who have died in all of our nation's wars. Dr. Rankin also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism, the organization of 950 Reform synagogues in the Unites States and Canada, and on the board of his synagogue in Falls Church, VA. He has spoken on college campuses about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and other issues and has written extensively about these and other issues for Jewish, medical, and gay magazines.

A native of Arkansas, Mike lives now in Arlington, Virginia.