W. Walter Menninger

During his tenure as CEO, the clinic began negotiations to move from Topeka, Kansas, to Houston, Texas.

His research with Peace Corps volunteers resulted in his development of the Menninger morale curve, a schematic used to predict responses among people who are in new environments.

As a result, he created the Menninger morale curve, which reflects the responses that can be expected when a person faces life changes.

[7] After years of managing the large state hospital, in 1993 Walt succeeded his older brother, Roy W. Menninger, as the leader of the foundation.

He realized that he was probably the last family member to lead the organization; his plan included grooming Bleiberg for the CEO position when he decided to step down.

Menninger had begun negotiating with Baylor College of Medicine on an affiliation agreement that would allow the hospital to move to Houston.

[12] Relationships between the Menninger brothers and with other family members have sometimes been contentious, especially over moving the clinic after decades in Topeka, determining where to locate its archives, and the leadership of the organization in general.

Psychiatrist William Simpson has described the battles at the Menninger Clinic, saying, "First Dr. Roy pushed Dr. Walt aside, and he went into exile at the state mental hospital.

[16] Menninger served on the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence and was a consultant to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

[17] He was a member of the board of trustees of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse (now PCA America).

[20] In 1982, he testified before the Kansas legislature in support of the establishment of the guilty but mentally ill legal verdict.