The Faculty
Director
Prof. Dr.(med.) Peter S. Geissler, M.D., Ph.D.
Profile
It is uncommon for a man to be highly regarded in more than one field of endeavor.
By any standard, therefore,
Prof. Dr.(med.) Peter S. Geissler, A.B., B.S., M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D. (Yale)
M.A., M.Eng., M.S., Ph.D., M.S., M.D., M.Phil.(Cantab)
is an uncommon man.
Dr. Geissler is well known as a court-appointed general civil mediator, research psychoanalyst, professional engineer, and an authority on international trademark registration.
Dr. Geissler has a broad background in civil and mechanical engineering, and the physical and biomedical sciences. He earned two bachelor's degrees, a B.S. in civil engineering from Stanford University, and an A.B. in physics from University of California, Berkeley. Thereafter, he was awarded a United States Public Health Service Training Grant to attend Yale University where he received M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in physiology, all by the age of 24.
Having received his Ph.D. from Yale in the shadow (both literally and figuratively) of the famous Lars Onsager, Peter Geissler "messed around" for a few years trying to solve the 3-Dimensional Ising Model Problem. Needless to say, those efforts were fruitless, but in the process, the young Dr. Geissler stumbled across a solution to another important theoretical problem, the Tethered Polymer Problem, that has broad application to Graph Theory [c.f. Geissler, P., "Configurational Entropy of Tethered Polymers and the Swelling Properties of Connective Tissue" in Solution Properties of Polysaccarides, 1981, American Chemical Society].
Thus, at the age of 24, Dr. Geissler started a twenty-year career (1974 - 1994) as lecturer at the University of California (Davis, Berkeley and Irvine) biomedical engineer and research scientist in the Division of Biology & Medicine at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. During this period, Dr. Geissler earned an M.A. degree in biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, the M.Eng. degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Geissler was appointed Science Advisor to the California Energy Commission for the State of California.
Dr. Geissler was appointed Special National Institutes of Health Research Fellow in Physiological Optics at the School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley and Special National Institutes of Health Research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, Davis.
Dr. Geissler was appointed Bioradiology & Medical Physics Consultant to the Department of Physiology, New York University Medical School and served as a Lecturer in the Trauma Program, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Yale University.
Dr. Geissler was awarded an Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship at the Institute fur Physiologie, Die Freien Universitat, Berlin.
In 1994, Dr. Geissler studied clinical human anatomy at Oxford University as an academic visitor through Oxford's Isis Exchange Programme.
In 1994-95, Dr. Geissler studied medicine at American University of the Caribbean, whilst serving on the medical microbiology faculty and lecturing on clinical immunology and earned an M.S. degree in basic medical sciences.
In 1995, Dr. Geissler completed his Doctor of Medicine degree at Grace University in St Kitts-Nevis, a medical qualification recognized by the General Medical Council (London) in the United Kingdom.
In 1996, Dr. Geissler spent two months in residence at the London School of Tropical Medicine. However, prior to completing the requirements for the Diploma in Tropical Medicine, Dr. Geissler accepted an appointment as Director of the Cambridge Overseas Medical Training Programme in Cambridge.
In 1996-97 Dr. Geissler undertook postgraduate research within the Department of Anatomy at University of Cambridge and wrote a thesis on the role of bacterial endotoxin, a virulence factor expressed by most gram-negative bacteria known to have a stimulatory effect on host inflammatory mediators, and explained the biochemical mechanism of its destabilizing effect on the blood-clotting cascade that causes disseminated intravascular coagulation in severe cases of sepsis.
In 1997, Dr. Geissler was awarded the M.Phil.(Cantab) degree in biological sciences from the University of Cambridge.
When asked what he considers his most significant intellectual contribution, Dr. Geissler responds without hesitation: "serving as Professor Howard Mel's assistant" for twenty-odd years in Berkeley on the development of the Theory of Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes [c.f. Mel, H. and Geissler, P., "Global Thermodynamic Potential Function for Nonequilibrium, Open Chemical Reaction Systems" 1986 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Technical Report No. LBL-22323].
When asked about what he considers his greatest failure, Dr. Geissler responds, similarly, without hesitation: "trying to start a medical school in war-torn Uganda." After many years of effort, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fundraising and significant educational support from University of Cambridge faculty, only a handful of African physicians were ultimately trained in tropical medicine before the school finally closed its doors. En route, however, there were also triumphs, such as having been appointed Chancellor of Saint Christopher's College of Medicine in Senegal, serving as Director of the Cambridge Overseas Medical Training Programme in Africa, serving as Managing Director of Kigezi International School of Medicine in Uganda, and presiding over graduation ceremonies at the United Nations in New York.
This time in Africa, however difficult, proved to be formative in developing Dr. Geissler's appreciation of the environmental and public health aspects of clinical medicine, especially community mental health. Thereafter, he undertook specialty postdoctoral training in the treatment of addiction disorders and in-depth psychoanalysis under the auspices of the British Psychoanalytic Institute.
Currently, Dr. Geissler holds a number of mental-health related professional licenses, including: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the District of Columbia; Licensed Marital and Family Therapist in the State of Tennessee; Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor in the State of Tennessee; Certified Clinical Therapist in the State of Oregon; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate in the State of Washington; Chemical Dependency Professional Certification in the State of Washington; Registered Student Research Psychoanalyst in the State of California; Registered Hypnotherapist in the State of Washington; and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida.
Formerly, Dr. Geissler held these additional health-related professional licenses: Registered Addiction Counselor in the District of Columbia; Registered Naturopath in the District of Columbia; Registered Health Physics Consultant in the District of Columbia; Registered Counselor in the State of Washington; Registered Radiation Physicist in the District of Columbia.
Dr. Geissler holds the following engineering licenses: Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of Washington; Registered Professional Civil Engineer in the State of Washington; Registered Professional Civil Engineer in the State of California; Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Tennessee; Fellow of the Engineers of Ireland; and Fellow of the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI).
Having submitted his first U.S. Patent Application at the age of 24, Dr. Geissler developed a life-long fascination for patent prosecution and trademark registration. Dr. Geissler is a recognized authority on international trademark registration and has many years of experience as a Trademarks Registrar. Currently, Dr. Geissler serves as (sometimes) Senior Tutor and Director of Academy of Intellectual Property Law in Oxford.
An affable clubman, Dr. Geissler is a member of The Travellers (Paris) and the Carlton Club in London. He was a member of the American Club in London until it (sadly) closed its doors in the 1980's. He is a member of Oxford and Cambridge Club in London, Union Club of British Columbia, The Faculty Club in Berkeley and the UCSD Faculty Club.
Currently, Dr. Geissler is Professor of Psychiatry at University of the Cumberlands and Director of the postgraduate M.A. in Professional Counseling & Study Abroad in Oxford programs. Dr. Geissler lectures to postgraduates on pharmacology and pathophysiology. Dr. Geissler heads the University of the Cumberlands bold initiative to develop a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology degree program that will be the first of its kind, worldwide, to educate medical psychologists who shall soon be granted prescription authority.
As a public service, Dr. Geissler serves as a court-appointed general civil mediator for medical malpractice litigation, workers compensation appeals and, of course, trademark-infringement cases. Mediation seems to be a good fit for the uncommon Dr. Geissler. He makes light of the fact that for years people have told him that "his . . . opinion is no value; now the Supreme Court of Tennessee agrees!" Indeed, Dr. Geissler has the broad perspective required of a good-humored mediator and yet is extremely well-versed in the lexicon of inter-personal conflict.
Currently, Dr. Geissler is a court-approved general civil mediator in the following jurisdictions: United States District Court, District of Idaho; Superior Court of California, County of Fresno; Superior Court of California, County of Yolo; Supreme Court of Georgia; and Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Dr. Geissler enjoys sailing adventures, elegant and historic gentlemen's clubs, and reading truly insightful texts such as Elementary Principles of Statistical Mechanics (Chapters I & IV) by J. Willard Gibbs, The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud, and Trade Mark Law, a Practical Anatomy by Jeremy Phillips.
While at Yale, Dr. Geissler picked up a book on chess entitled something like You Too Can Beat Bobby Fisher and began playing chess intensively. His hopes for world domination were dashed after losing fifty-seven consecutive chess matches in New York. Arguably, this is the longest losing-streak in the history of chess. He hasn't played since.
Also at Yale, Dr. Geissler taught sailing at Yale Yacht Club. In the 70's he sailed competitively for a year in Germany on the Wannsee and on the Bodensee. For many years, Dr. Geissler sailed the Olympic two-person sailboat, the International Yngling, on San Francisco Bay. Currently, he is a member of Balboa Yacht Club in Newport and Corinthian Yacht Club of San Francisco.
Quite the gourmand, Dr. Geissler has a well-trained and well-fed palate. His favorite dish is "pfannkuchen" with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and granulated sugar. His favorite winery is Château Lagrange. He adds ". . . but of course, the sublime combination of Roquefort 'brand' cheese and Chateau de Chine 'brand' wine is exquisite."
R.B. Parks, "THE VICE CHANCELLOR" of University of California, Berkeley, once said of Dr. Geissler, by way of a back-handed compliment: "He must have lunch with a lot of smart people." How true. Yet surprisingly, after working with the brilliant Howard Mel in Berkeley for so many years, Dr. Geissler remained Dr. Mel's intellectual Sherpa and never really matured as a mathematical theorist or scientist. When Howard Mel retired from University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Geissler wandered off to do "other interesting and exciting things." He still is.