Obesity
In Memoriam
Albert J. (“Mickey”) Stunkard, M.D. Mickey Stunkard made enduring discoveries and did so with a passion and wide-eyed innocence that never faded—not even after 60 years of leadership, awards, honors, and a mountain of books, articles, and other publications. Just as remarkable was Mickey’s self-reflection on how his ideas developed: He thought about how he thought. In a 1990 address, Mickey spoke about “beginner’s mind.” As an Army physician at the close of WWII, he was sent to Japan to interview the country’s former military officers. Mickey learned about Japanese history and culture and later met a man who had established a Zen Buddhist community in San Francisco. Shunryu Suzuki became Mickey’s lifelong teacher and friend. In this address, Mickey thanked Suzuki for describing the beginner’s mind—where one allows the mind to be free from convention, lets ideas flow naturally and lives wholly in the moment. Mickey did these things intuitively and, as a consequence, discovered what needed to be found. Mickey described his professional life as his attempt to “. . .try to learn something about obesity, whether or not I know anything about the subject, even though each time I am just a beginner.” Mickey Stunkard received his B.S. from Yale University in 1943, his M.D. from Columbia University in 1945, and completed further training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at Johns Hopkins. He joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1957 and quickly became Chair, helping to create a premier department. From 1973 to 1976 he served as Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford and then returned to Penn where he built a world-class clinical and research center specializing in obesity. Mickey focused on obesity early in his career, based in part on moving experiences he had in treating patients. He chronicled this experience in his classic book, The Pain of Obesity. He cared for the people he studied. He listened and observed, and he launched entire areas of inquiry based on a rare acuity of insight. His early characterizations of binge eating and night eating came about in this way. Mickey made key contributions in many other areas. In a 1958 paper that become a citation classic, Mickey noted how difficult it was for
www.obesityjournal.org
people to lose weight and maintain it. Decades of research on treating obesity followed from his call for such work. He and colleagues were also the first to document the relationship between social class and obesity. Nowhere was Mickey’s brilliance more apparent than when his instincts led him to the genetics of human obesity. Though he knew little, he sought out experts who became key collaborators and published landmark studies in The New England Journal of Medicine showing strong inheritance. This launched a generation of work. Mickey served as president of the American Psychosomatic Society, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine and received numerous awards, including the Sarnat International Prize from the Institute of Medicine and the Gold Medal for Distinguished Academic Accomplishment from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. A mentor of astounding ability, Mickey was generous with opportunities, astute in his selection of colleagues, and brilliant in modeling an inquisitive, energetic and ever-expanding mind. His inspiration has given the field many leaders. Mickey Stunkard crafted innovation—few scholars could be credited with more “firsts.” He was sometimes ahead of his field by decades. He was brilliant and humble at the same time, and he had the courage to be a beginner, over and again. He once described moments of discovery as moments of grace. He shared this grace with us and with so many others. Kelly C. Allison, Ph.D. Robert I. Berkowitz, M.D. Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. Gary D. Foster, Ph.D. Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D.
Obesity | VOLUME 22 | NUMBER 9 | SEPTEMBER 2014
1937
Obesity
In Memoriam Stunkard
Albert J. Stunkard, M.D. Chronology of His Principal Papers “Most obese persons will not stay in treatment. Of those who stay in treatment, most will not lose weight, and of those who do lose weight, most will regain it” (p. 79). NY State J Med 1958;58:79-87. “Here is a golden opportunity. As with any chronic illness, we rarely have an opportunity to cure. But we do have an opportunity to treat the patient with respect. Such an experience may be the greatest gift that a doctor can give an obese patient; it compares favorably with the modest benefits of our programs of weight reduction” (p. 356). From “Talking with Patients,” Obesity: Theory and Therapy. New York: Raven Press, 1993. 1955 The night-eating syndrome: a pattern of food intake among certain obese patients. Am J Med 1955;19:78-86. 1957 The dieting depression: incidence and clinical characteristics of untoward responses to weight reduction regimens. Am J Med 1957;23:77-86. 1959 Eating patterns and obesity. Psychiatr Q 1959;33:284-95. The results of treatment for obesity: a review of the literature and report of a series. AMA Arch Intern Med 1959;103:79-85. 1962 Obesity, social class, and mental illness. JAMA 1962;181:962-66. 1965 Social factors in obesity. JAMA 1965;192:1039-44. 1967 Obesity and the body image. 1. characteristics of disturbances in the body image of some obese persons. Am J Psychiatry 1967;123:1296-300. 1972 New therapies for the eating disorders: behavior modification of obesity and anorexia-nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1972;26:391-98. 1974 Dieting and depression reexamined: a critical review of reports of untoward responses during weight reduction for obesity. Ann Intern Med 1974;81:526-33. 1979 Behavior modification in the treatment of obesity: the problem of maintaining weight loss. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1979;36:801-16. 1981 The accuracy of self-reported weights. Am J Clin Nutr 1981;34:1593-99.
1938
Obesity | VOLUME 22 | NUMBER 9 | SEPTEMBER 2014
1982 Anorectic agents lower a body weight set point. Life Sci 1982;24:2043-55. 1985 The 3-Factor Eating Questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. J Psychosom Res 1985;29:71-83. 1986 A twin study of human obesity. JAMA 1986;256:51-54. An adoption study of human obesity. N Engl J Med 1986;314:193-98. Psychological and social aspects of the surgical treatment of obesity. Am J Psychiatry 1986;143:417-29. 1989 Socioeconomic status and obesity: a review of the literature. Psychol Bull 1989;105:260-75. 1990 The body-mass index of twins who have been reared apart. N Engl J Med 1990;322:1438-87. 1992 Binge eating disorder: a multisite field trial of the diagnostic criteria. Int J Eat Disord 1992;11:191-203. 1999 Behavioral and neuroendocrine characteristics of the night-eating syndrome. JAMA 1999;282:657-63. 2003 Getting worse: the stigmatization of obese children. Obes Res 2003;11:452-56. Depression and obesity. Biol Psychiatry 2003;54:330-37. 2004 Parental feeding attitudes and styles and child body mass index: prospective analysis of a gene-environment interaction. Pediatrics 2004;114:E429-36.
www.obesityjournal.org
In Memoriam
Albert J. (“Mickey”) Stunkard, M.D. Mickey Stunkard made enduring discoveries and did so with a passion and wide-eyed innocence that never faded—not even after 60 years of leadership, awards, honors, and a mountain of books, articles, and other publications. Just as remarkable was Mickey’s self-reflection on how his ideas developed: He thought about how he thought. In a 1990 address, Mickey spoke about “beginner’s mind.” As an Army physician at the close of WWII, he was sent to Japan to interview the country’s former military officers. Mickey learned about Japanese history and culture and later met a man who had established a Zen Buddhist community in San Francisco. Shunryu Suzuki became Mickey’s lifelong teacher and friend. In this address, Mickey thanked Suzuki for describing the beginner’s mind—where one allows the mind to be free from convention, lets ideas flow naturally and lives wholly in the moment. Mickey did these things intuitively and, as a consequence, discovered what needed to be found. Mickey described his professional life as his attempt to “. . .try to learn something about obesity, whether or not I know anything about the subject, even though each time I am just a beginner.” Mickey Stunkard received his B.S. from Yale University in 1943, his M.D. from Columbia University in 1945, and completed further training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at Johns Hopkins. He joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1957 and quickly became Chair, helping to create a premier department. From 1973 to 1976 he served as Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford and then returned to Penn where he built a world-class clinical and research center specializing in obesity. Mickey focused on obesity early in his career, based in part on moving experiences he had in treating patients. He chronicled this experience in his classic book, The Pain of Obesity. He cared for the people he studied. He listened and observed, and he launched entire areas of inquiry based on a rare acuity of insight. His early characterizations of binge eating and night eating came about in this way. Mickey made key contributions in many other areas. In a 1958 paper that become a citation classic, Mickey noted how difficult it was for
www.obesityjournal.org
people to lose weight and maintain it. Decades of research on treating obesity followed from his call for such work. He and colleagues were also the first to document the relationship between social class and obesity. Nowhere was Mickey’s brilliance more apparent than when his instincts led him to the genetics of human obesity. Though he knew little, he sought out experts who became key collaborators and published landmark studies in The New England Journal of Medicine showing strong inheritance. This launched a generation of work. Mickey served as president of the American Psychosomatic Society, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine and received numerous awards, including the Sarnat International Prize from the Institute of Medicine and the Gold Medal for Distinguished Academic Accomplishment from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. A mentor of astounding ability, Mickey was generous with opportunities, astute in his selection of colleagues, and brilliant in modeling an inquisitive, energetic and ever-expanding mind. His inspiration has given the field many leaders. Mickey Stunkard crafted innovation—few scholars could be credited with more “firsts.” He was sometimes ahead of his field by decades. He was brilliant and humble at the same time, and he had the courage to be a beginner, over and again. He once described moments of discovery as moments of grace. He shared this grace with us and with so many others. Kelly C. Allison, Ph.D. Robert I. Berkowitz, M.D. Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. Gary D. Foster, Ph.D. Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D.
Obesity | VOLUME 22 | NUMBER 9 | SEPTEMBER 2014
1937
Obesity
In Memoriam Stunkard
Albert J. Stunkard, M.D. Chronology of His Principal Papers “Most obese persons will not stay in treatment. Of those who stay in treatment, most will not lose weight, and of those who do lose weight, most will regain it” (p. 79). NY State J Med 1958;58:79-87. “Here is a golden opportunity. As with any chronic illness, we rarely have an opportunity to cure. But we do have an opportunity to treat the patient with respect. Such an experience may be the greatest gift that a doctor can give an obese patient; it compares favorably with the modest benefits of our programs of weight reduction” (p. 356). From “Talking with Patients,” Obesity: Theory and Therapy. New York: Raven Press, 1993. 1955 The night-eating syndrome: a pattern of food intake among certain obese patients. Am J Med 1955;19:78-86. 1957 The dieting depression: incidence and clinical characteristics of untoward responses to weight reduction regimens. Am J Med 1957;23:77-86. 1959 Eating patterns and obesity. Psychiatr Q 1959;33:284-95. The results of treatment for obesity: a review of the literature and report of a series. AMA Arch Intern Med 1959;103:79-85. 1962 Obesity, social class, and mental illness. JAMA 1962;181:962-66. 1965 Social factors in obesity. JAMA 1965;192:1039-44. 1967 Obesity and the body image. 1. characteristics of disturbances in the body image of some obese persons. Am J Psychiatry 1967;123:1296-300. 1972 New therapies for the eating disorders: behavior modification of obesity and anorexia-nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1972;26:391-98. 1974 Dieting and depression reexamined: a critical review of reports of untoward responses during weight reduction for obesity. Ann Intern Med 1974;81:526-33. 1979 Behavior modification in the treatment of obesity: the problem of maintaining weight loss. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1979;36:801-16. 1981 The accuracy of self-reported weights. Am J Clin Nutr 1981;34:1593-99.
1938
Obesity | VOLUME 22 | NUMBER 9 | SEPTEMBER 2014
1982 Anorectic agents lower a body weight set point. Life Sci 1982;24:2043-55. 1985 The 3-Factor Eating Questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. J Psychosom Res 1985;29:71-83. 1986 A twin study of human obesity. JAMA 1986;256:51-54. An adoption study of human obesity. N Engl J Med 1986;314:193-98. Psychological and social aspects of the surgical treatment of obesity. Am J Psychiatry 1986;143:417-29. 1989 Socioeconomic status and obesity: a review of the literature. Psychol Bull 1989;105:260-75. 1990 The body-mass index of twins who have been reared apart. N Engl J Med 1990;322:1438-87. 1992 Binge eating disorder: a multisite field trial of the diagnostic criteria. Int J Eat Disord 1992;11:191-203. 1999 Behavioral and neuroendocrine characteristics of the night-eating syndrome. JAMA 1999;282:657-63. 2003 Getting worse: the stigmatization of obese children. Obes Res 2003;11:452-56. Depression and obesity. Biol Psychiatry 2003;54:330-37. 2004 Parental feeding attitudes and styles and child body mass index: prospective analysis of a gene-environment interaction. Pediatrics 2004;114:E429-36.
www.obesityjournal.org
