As a child growing up in River Edge, New Jersey, Todd Ouida suffered from a panic disorder so severe that he had to leave school, ultimately missing three years while in intensive therapy. He returned to school in the seventh grade and grew into a popular, generous teen. He eventually took the bold step of coming to the University of Michigan to earn a degree in psychology and went on to become an options trader at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. 

“I realized that the time a person wants to give up is the time when it is imperative for that person to fight the hardest.”   - Todd Ouida, on his University of Michigan application.

Having overcome the challenges of childhood anxiety, Todd was driven to share his story with those he felt would benefit. His premature death at age 25 in the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was a tragic end to a life that had included considerable hard-won triumph. 

For his parents, Herb and Andrea Ouida, the route toward accepting their son's death has been to honor Todd's memory by helping other children suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. They created the Todd Ouida Children's Foundation, which raises money to support psychological services for families in need in the New York-New Jersey area.

In 2003, the Ouida family partnered with the University of Michigan to launch the annual Todd Ouida Clinical Scholars Award and Lecture in Todd’s memory. The esteemed Scholars Award funds a U-M researcher dedicated to advancing research in childhood anxiety and depression. This award is presented each year in conjunction with the Todd Ouida Annual Lecture in Childhood Anxiety and Depression.

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