At the December Meeting, the Executive Council elected Richard Fox and Ralph Roughton to serve in the IPA House of Delegates. Roughton took office in January while Fox's term will begin in July.
Richard Fox, who will complete his term as Councilor-at-Large next May, has a long history of service to The American. He worked for a number of years for the delinkage proposal and was instrumental in gaining the consensus which resulted in passage of the long delayed proposal by a 97% margin. Since May, candidates are automatically eligible for membership upon graduation from their institutes. Fox's recent work has included efforts to empower and enfranchise younger members through the development of the Affiliates Council. Fox has been a Fellow of the Board since 1987. He co-chairs the new Committee on Governance and has served on the Steering Committee of the Council as well as the Coordinating Committee and Membership Committee of the Board. Fox was a candidate for President of the Association in the last election. He states, “Key to the development of our organization is increasing members' awareness and participation and educating them on the issues facing psychoanalysis.” Within the IPA, Fox served on the ad hoc committee which investigated the controversial 1995 election, and he now sits on the permanent Committee on Elections. He also serves on the IPA Committee on Congresses. At the Los Angeles Institute, Fox was Director of Education for four years and continues with his teaching and supervisory responsibilities.
Ralph Roughton is currently best known in The American for his work as Chairman of the Committee on Issues of Homosexuality. Since its inception, Roughton has worked to counteract both the appearance and the actuality of discriminatory practices against gay analysts and patients. He was instrumental in the passage of the official statement on homosexuality, passed in 1991—92, and he is currently working with institutes and societies to facilitate acceptance of gay candidates and to help create a more accepting climate for gay and lesbian analysts. He hopes to bring similar programs to the IPA, since open discrimination is practiced in many countries throughout the world.
Roughton was trained in Atlanta, a member of the second class taught by commuting faculty from the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is a training and supervising analyst and was director of the Atlanta group when it became a provisional institute. Within The American, Roughton served four years on BOPS and twelve years on the Executive Council. In addition to his teaching and supervisory roles at Atlanta, he has written in an area of special interest for him, the interface of psychoanalysis and literature.