Dr. Syed Arshad Husain M.D., former Chief and Director of Training of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Missouri and the Senior Vice President/Medical Director of Psychiatry Services of Compass Health, died peacefully the morning of September 24th, 2022 at his home in Columbia, Missouri with his wife of over 50 years, Jennifer Devine Husain, at his side.
He was 84 years old. A titan in the field of Child Psychiatry and a foremost expert in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dr. Husain’s greatest impact was the result of his decades-long world-wide humanitarian work with children as they coped with the grief and trauma in the aftermath of the unimaginable destruction of both natural disasters and human created war zones.
Dr. Syed Arshad Husain was born on June 25th, 1938 in Delhi, India, the fourth of eleven children. At nine years old, Arshad found himself in the middle of civil duress as a result of India’s Partition in 1947. His family soon migrated to Karachi, Pakistan and, during the harrowing journey, he observed numerous atrocities and the displacement of people into refugee camps. This experience left an indelible impression that would later shape his professional and humanitarian efforts.
Both a standout student and athlete — he qualified for the 1960 Rome Olympics in Track and Field — Dr. Husain’s pursuit of his medical career resulted in a crisscrossing of the globe first to Dow Medical College in Karachi, then training in London & New York City, and finally to McGill University in Montreal. It was at the latter where he was recruited to join the burgeoning Psychiatry Department at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Early in his tenure at MU, he was introduced to Jennifer Devine, the oldest child of Missouri Football Coach and future Hall of Fame Inductee Dan Devine. After a short courtship, the two were married in 1972. They had two sons, Kareem Daniel Husain (1973) and Abraham Darius Husain (1977) who both graduated from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia.
The 1980s was defined by a series of professional milestones for Dr. Husain. He was named Chief and Director of Training for Child Psychiatry at MU. In addition to his University responsibilities, Dr. Husain was instrumental in the growth of a 40-bed psychiatric hospital in Windsor, Missouri to what is now Compass Health; a conglomerate of hospitals and clinics employing over 2,800 individuals and considered the largest mental health system in Missouri and the third largest in the United States.
Crediting the completion in 1992 of his first Hajj — the pilgrimage to the Kabba in Mecca required by all Muslims — as the impetus for his professional evolution toward humanitarian efforts, Dr. Husain traveled 27 times to war ravaged Bosnia — Herzegovina, where he met his adopted daughter Elma. Enlightened by the lessons learned from this experience, Dr. Husain formed the International Center for Psycho-Social Trauma at the University of Missouri.
Over the next two decades, his trauma team would train approximately 7,500 teachers, physicians, nurses and other volunteers in refugee camps in Bosnia, Palestine and Pakistan, earthquake disaster zones in India, tsunami disaster areas in Indonesia, and more locally, the aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina and Maria, and the E5 Tornado in Joplin, MO.
Demonstrating that his humanitarian efforts extended beyond disaster response, Dr. Husain established the International Medical and Educational Trust (IMET) in 1998 and, through this non-profit, established a hospital and birthing center in Karachi for those lacking access to quality medical care. Dr. Husain also formulated the Mothers as Teachers (MATs) model that allowed thousands of Pakistani youth the opportunity for schooling in a system that often shuts their doors to the less privileged.
A prolific contributor to Academia, Dr. Husain published over 70 papers in noted medical journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He authored seven professional books on various aspects of child psychiatry including “Road Map to Power” and was a member of twelve professional societies in the United States and internationally.
Preferring to emphasize the contributions of those around him, Dr. Husain could not avoid the numerous accolades and honors that were bestowed upon him. They include: The Bruno Lima Award by the American Psychiatric Association, The Irving Phillips Memorial Award by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The “Pride in the Profession Award” by the American Medical Association, The “Doctor of the Year” award from the National Council of Well Being, and The Citation of Merit Award, from the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
Dr. Husain continued his humanitarian work and fulfilled his role as Senior Vice President/Medical Director Psychiatry Services of Compass Health until 3 weeks before his 82nd birthday when a series of serious health set-backs forced his retirement. He spent his final 2 years in a quieter existence centered on his wife, children, and four grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his father Syed Mumtaz Husain, mother Akhtar Zamni, brothers Raghib ul Hassan and Mumtaz Akhtar, and Sisters Zaib Naqvi and Surriya Mumtaz. He is survived by his wife Jennifer, sons Keary and Darius, daughter Elma Dizdar, his daughter-in-law Jennifer Plum, his grandchildren Daniel, Margaret, Charlie, and Ava, brothers Massod Akhtar, Khalid Anwar, Shahid Mumtaz, and Rashid Mumtaz, sisters Khalida Yousafi and Shehanz Maudood, dozens of nieces and nephews who adored him, and the countless individuals who consider him a father, brother, mentor, and friend.
For more information about Dr. Husain’s remarkable life and the memorial fund established in his honor, visit: https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/SyedArshadHusain/