2026 Awards

Ben Maxwell

Talent

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Division Chief, UC San Diego & Rady Children's Hospital

Dr. Ben Maxwell is a board-certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and globally recognized leader on strategies aimed at improving the mental health of kids. Dr. Maxwell received his medical degree from University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. He then completed General Psychiatry residency at University of California – Irvine followed by a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University of California – San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital. After completing the fellowship, he stayed on as faculty in San Diego where he has served in various clinical and leadership roles. Currently, Dr. Maxwell directs the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry based at Rady Children’s Hospital. In this role, Dr. Maxwell has led the division to become a leader in innovation and system of care improvement, transforming the way pediatric mental health care is provided. Dr. Maxwell has served in a variety of international roles to implement innovative strategies at dealing with the global mental health crisis we are seeing in kids, including training preschool teachers in Africa in early recognition of behavioral health challenges, educational programs for primary care physicians in Jordan to improve their expertise in behavioral health, and mentoring psychiatrists in Saudi Arabia to integrate behavioral health services in primary care settings. Dr. Maxwell leverages expertise and knowledge not only in medicine and neuroscience, but also evolutionary psychology, cross-cultural anthropology, and behavioral economics to bring a focus to the importance of social connection, cultivation of resilience and intrinsic motivation in a world where these are becoming harder to find. Outside of these professional activities, you can find Dr. Maxwell spending time with his amazing wife and inspiring daughter or spending time enjoying the outdoors in and around San Diego.

Confirmed Summit attendance does not confirm an Awards appearance, performance, or honor.