Passed away on Friday, February 4, 2022 following a debilitating stroke in Toronto. He leaves his cherished wife of 58 years Joan Evelyn (née Valley) and son Christopher. Also, he retained a lifelong affection for the Sydney, Australia branch of his family. Born in Budapest, Hungary on November 16, 1929, Tom did his medical studies at Semmelweis University from 1948-1954 and was Resident Psychiatrist at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology from 1954-1956. Due to the 1956 Uprising, he was in Canada by mid-January 1957 and a fellow at Wilder Penfield’s prestigious Montreal Neurological Institute. Penfield had been made aware that as a medical student he had won first prize for work he had done in collaboration with a fellow student on post-traumatic epilepsy. Desiring to continue his training in psychiatry he picked the place Heinz Lehmann was at because he had heard about his work on chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia. He went to Verdun Protestant Hospital in July 1, 1958 and within a couple of months he became involved in research on phencyclidine (angel dust). This mentorship turned into a close collaboration and friendship. In 1960 he received his Diploma in Psychiatry with Distinction from McGill University, Montreal. His thesis “Conditioning and Psychiatry” was published as a monograph (Aldine,Chicago, 1964; Unwin, London, 1966) with a foreword by Horsley Gantt, at the time one of the last living pupils of physiologist Ivan Pavlov. It went on to receive an Honorary Mention in the 1965 Quebec Literary and Scientific Competition. He authored, co-authored, and edited more than 60 books and well over 800 scientific articles. There are too many works to include here; a mention must be made of “Psychopharmacology” (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1969), the first textbook in this discipline and the basis for his subsequent research and teaching. Consequently, some of his academic peers referred to him as “Mr. Psychopharmacology”.
Academic Experience: [McGill University, Department of Psychiatry: Demonstrator 1960-1963, Lecturer 1963-1965, Assistant Professor 1965-1970, Associate Professor 1970-1976; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Professor of Psychiatry 1976-1995, Emeritus Professor 1995- ]
Administrative Experience: [Senior Psychiatrist, Verdun Protestant Hospital, Verdun, QC 1960-1961; Chief, Clinical Research Service, Douglas Hospital, Verdun, QC 1961-1971; Director, Division of Psychopharmacology, McGill University, 1971-1976 (the first division of its kind connected to a university); Head, National Reference Center, World Health Organization Collaborating Reference Center Network for the Study of Psychotropic Drugs (Canada), Montreal, QC 1972-1976; Director, WHO Training Program in Biological Psychiatry, (WHO Collaborating Reference Center Network), Montreal, QC 1972-1976; Director, Clinical Research Service, Tennessee Neuropsychiatric Institute, Nashville, TN, USA 1976-1983; Director, Division of Psychopharmacology, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA 1983-1995.]. Other Memorable Appointments: Consultant, Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland 1981-1983. He received many honors, awards and held membership in many scientific societies including notably American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Emeritus Fellow, Life Member, History Committee (2002); and Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum, Honorary Fellow (2002). In 2013 he was the Founding Editor of the International Network for the History of Neuropsychopharmacology (INHN) which in December 2021 published his final coauthored book, “Lithium in Psychiatry in Historical Perspective.” Tom was most passionate about his work and friendships. He mentored many psychiatrists around the world and will be profoundly missed.