Lonnie Snowden, who shaped national mental health policy, dies at age 77

Lonnie R. Snowden, PhD, widely known for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of mental health, commitment to eliminating health disparities, and extraordinary mentorship, died unexpectedly on January 25, at home in Oakland, California. He was 77.

Snowden’s long-standing association with UC Berkeley included roles within both the School of Social Welfare and UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Although he began his career as a psychologist, he pivoted into policy work, often assessing the disparities between Black and white Americans, in access to health care.

Until his passing, Snowden continued to be a very active researcher, focused in large part on the delivery of mental health services and other health-related services—an area of inquiry he pioneered in the early 1980s.

“There is no doubt that Lonnie was a giant in the field of health and mental health disparities,” said Susan Stone, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. “He was a powerful informal and formal mentor to students and colleagues at Berkeley—as well as nationally and internationally. Lonnie was always abidingly concerned about access; who is getting access to health care services and who is not.”

A landmark book

Snowden’s landmark book, Reaching the underserved: mental health needs of neglected populations, published in 1982, revealed the institutional barriers that made it impossible for vulnerable populations to access mental health services.

The book, a collection of essays that Snowden edited, became a blueprint for his career as a pioneer in the systemic study of both health and mental health services delivery and related policies and practices, with the goal of ensuring equity in treatment. He was especially concerned about the differences in mental health care utilization by African Americans compared to white Americans.

“He was a brilliant researcher,” said Timothy T. Brown, associate research professor of health economics at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, who enjoyed collaborating with Snowden over the years. “He was just a very kind person—and if you look at the number of awards he received, you can see he was a key leader in the field.”

Among those honors was the Berkeley Citation for “Distinguished Achievements and Notable Service to the University” in 2012; the U.S. Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Award in 2002; and the Carl Taube Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Field of Mental Health Services by the American Public Health Association’s mental health section in 2021.

Snowden was also awarded the 2021 Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, a coveted honor. In bestowing the prize, the APA wrote, “As a psychologist committed to breaking down social and political barriers, Snowden’s calm composure and steadfastness have propelled and influenced his path to increase access and effectiveness of mental health care for racial and ethnic communities and underserved populations.”

Born in post-War II Detroit

Snowden was born October 7, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Mary Sylvia Snowden, was a primary school teacher. His father, Lonnie R. Snowden, was a graduate of the Detroit College of Law, and a founding partner of one of the first Black law firms in Detroit.

Snowden received his BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1969 and obtained his PhD from Wayne State University in 1975.

He spent the early years of his career at the University of Oregon, where he was an associate professor of psychology. He then served as a faculty member at Berkeley Social Welfare from 1978 to 2008, rising from assistant professor to professor. From 1999 to 2008, Snowden served as affiliated professor in the School of Public Health’s Health Services and Policy Analysis department.

Beginning in 2008, Snowden joined the School of Public Health as professor in the Health Policy and Management Division, and transitioned to Professor of the Graduate School in 2012.

He was director of the UC Berkeley-UCSF Center for Mental Health Services Research, and served on numerous review and advisory committees for the National Institutes of Mental Health and Drug Abuse.

He often provided policy briefings, informing the California legislature on best practices regarding health care services for vulnerable communities.

He was an avid runner, and spent much of his time listening to music. He and his wife, Alice Hines, whom he met at UC Berkeley, and who is professor emeritus of the San Jose State University College of Health and Human Sciences, often travelled abroad together. The couple visited Vietnam, initially for Hines’ work, and Snowden became enamored with the country and its people.

He continued to be an extremely active researcher as an emeritus professor, receiving a research grant in 2024 from the National Institute of Mental Health to study mental health care and treatment disparities among Black and white Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act. He was also recognized for his work on African American-white disparities in COVID-19.

In recent years, Snowden’s publications showed that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduced insurance coverage disparities between African American and white Americans. The disparities were reduced by both expanded Medicaid-provided public insurance coverage for low income people and subsidized insurance coverage. Another important work was his research showing that children experienced more stress from family finances than school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Lonnie embodied the net of what our community is all about,” said Michael C. Lu, UC Berkeley School of Public Health dean. “To his last day, he fought for health equity and social justice for all, especially the most vulnerable.”

Indeed, at the time of his death, Snowden was researching a link between the loss of access to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps and increased risk of suicide. His former colleagues plan to finish this last paper.

Genevieve Graaf, who received her doctorate from UC Berkeley in 2018, is grateful for Snowden’s guidance. Even after becoming an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, Graaf continued collaborating with him.

“I will forever be grateful for the day I met Lonnie Snowden,” she wrote in a memorial post. “He provided me critical encouragement, support, and mentorship in conducting mental health policy research. Most of all, though, Lonnie modeled for me how to be an ethical, rigorous, and supportive researcher and faculty member, and how to conduct policy research with integrity, perseverance, and passion.”

Snowden is survived by his wife, Alice Hines, two sons from a previous marriage, Alexander and Jonathan, of Portland, Oregon; sisters Pamela Snowden of Los Angeles, and Ronda Snowden, of New York; a granddaughter, Dalia Fe Snowden-Chavez, of Portland; and nieces Jolanda Gunning-Snowden and Lauren Williams Carrie. Plans for a memorial service are forthcoming.