Dr. Pierre Rioux, M.D., Psychiatry, recently attained distinguished life fellow status with the American Psychiatric Association, which is the highest honor bestowed by the association. The distinguished fellowship was established by the APA to recognize members who have made a significant contribution to their profession and the public good. Distinguished life fellows are leaders in their fields whose achievements and dedication to their patients have set a standard of excellence for the profession of psychiatry.

Rioux’s new status will be formally recognized at the 2016 Convocation of Distinguished Fellows, during the APA’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta Georgia on May 16.

Rioux has been a psychiatrist on the Austin campus since 2001 and serves as medical director of Austin’s Psychiatric Service Unit. He received his medical degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and completed his residency at the University of Michigan. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Rioux is a clinical professor of Neuroscience at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is past president of the North Dakota Psychiatric Society and previous chair of the Psychiatric Services Award Board of the American Psychiatric Association. He is the recipient of the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the Distinguished Service Award from the North Dakota Psychiatric Society.

Rioux serves on the Drug Utilization Review Board for the State of Minnesota. He is also a board member of American Renaissance for the Twenty First Century (a New York City based nonprofit educational arts and culture foundation); The International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (the high achievement society); and The American College of Heraldry.

Rioux provides inpatient psychiatric care with a special interest in clinical depression.