Lyman C. Wynne (1923–2007) was an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

with a special interest in

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. His early research helped lay the foundation for family-based therapies,Carey, Benedict. "Lyman Wynne, 83, a Leader in Research on Mental Illnesses, Dies," New York Times, January 27, 2007

/ref> influencing others such as R. D. Laing and Margaret Singer. He made a number of discoveries about the interaction of genetics and the environment in the development of schizophrenia, working with adopted twins. He published numerous articles and co-edited "The Nature of Schizophrenia" (1978), received the Frieda Fromm-Reichmann Award for schizophrenia research from the American Academy of Psychoanalysis in 1965, the Meritorious Service Medal from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1966, and received two awards from the American Family Therapy Academy, one in 1981 and another in 1989.

Biography

Wynne was born into an impoverished but intellectual Danish family in a Southern

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

village. His mother died of uterine cancer when he was 11 years old, inspiring him to become a medical researcher. He was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Duluth, Minnesota and later received a full scholarship to Harvard University. He served as president of the American Family Therapy Academy in 1986 and 1987. Wynne chaired the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry from 1971 to 1977, and then served as professor of psychiatry until his retirement to emeritus status in 1998. During the 1950s and 1960s, as a researcher and an official at the National Institute of Mental Health, Wynne pioneered new approaches to mental illness, especially

Personal

Wynne was survived by five children, Christine Wynne of

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...

; Randy Wynne of

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; Sara Wynne of

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

; Barry Wind of

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

; and Jonathan Wynne of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

; a sister, Nadine Tornquist of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

; and five grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Lyman 20th-century American psychologists American psychiatrists 1923 births Harvard Medical School alumni University of Rochester faculty 2007 deaths People from Tyler, Minnesota