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URMC / Libraries / Edward G. Miner Library / Rare Books and Manuscripts / Archives and Manuscripts / Faculty Collections / Lyman Wynne, M.D., Ph.D.
 

Lyman Wynne, M.D., Ph.D.

Introduction

Lyman Wynne (1923-2007) came to the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in 1971 as chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and psychiatrist-in-chief at Strong Memorial Hospital, the University’s teaching hospital. Wynne was already a recognized authority on family therapy and on schizophrenia – topics on which the present collection focuses.

Though comparatively small, the collection reflects Wynne’s long and extensive involvement in the Finnish Adoptive Family Study of Schizophrenia, and provides a nearly complete collection of his published work and unpublished manuscripts. There is no material in the collection regarding Wynne’s tenure as chairman of the Dept. of Psychiatry, nor anything dating from his years as chief of the Adult Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. The material in this collection was transferred to the Edward G. Miner Library in 2008 and was processed in July 2018. It is contained in sixteen document boxes and occupies nine linear feet.

Biography

Born in a small town in southern Minnesota, Lyman Wynne went to live with relations in Duluth after the death of his mother when he was twelve. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, receiving a “war certificate” and admission to Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1947. At Harvard, Wynne worked under Erich Lindemann, chief of psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital, whose influence determined Wynne’s choice of a career in psychiatry, and family therapy in particular. Wynne interned at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, postponed his residency for research training at Harvard’s newly formed Dept. of Social Relations, received a Moseley Fellowship for neurology training at Queen Square National Hospital in London (1949-50), and then returned to Boston to complete his residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital with Lindemann and Stanley Cobb. Wynne received his Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard in 1958.

Lyman Wynne

In the early 1950s Wynne joined the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md. In 1957 he was appointed chief of the Section on Family Studies, Adult Psychiatry Branch at NIMH, and in 1961 was made chief of the Adult Psychiatry Branch. In 1971 Wynne succeeded John Romano as chairman of the Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. He stepped down after six years in this position to focus on family therapy and research. Wynne became professor emeritus of psychiatry in 1998.

In 1963-64 Wynne was visiting lecturer in Psychiatry at the American University of Beirut. From 1965 to 1969, he served as special consultant to the World Health Organization’s Schizophrenia Research Program, and from 1977 to 1981 as principal investigator of the WHO-NIMH Study of Determinants of Outcome of Severe Mental Disorders (Box 14, Folders 10-13; Box 15, Folders 1-3). From 1976 to 1980 he was a member of the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on DSM-III, and from 1983 to 1987 of the APA’s Work Group to Revise DSM-III. In 1983 Wynne began his decades-long involvement with the Finnish Adoptive Family Study of Schizophrenia (Boxes 1-8), of which he was co-principal investigator with Pekka Tienari, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Oulu, Finland. Wynne served as president of the American Family Therapy Association in 1986-87, and in 1997 co-founded (with his wife Adele, also a therapist) the Wynne Center for Family Research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Wynne was was a rigorous researcher, a prolific author, and the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He and his wife Adele (d. 2003) raised five children. Lyman Wynne died in Bethesda, Md. on January 17, 2007.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is divided into five series:

Finnish Studies (Boxes 1-8): A study conducted with colleagues at the University of Oulu, Finland, to determine genetic and environmental contributions to the development of schizophrenia among the adopted offspring of schizophrenic mothers. The material in this series includes grant applications, reports, correspondence, e-mails, data, manuscripts, etc. and is arranged chronologically (1980-2006).

Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (Boxes 9-12): Wynne maintained all his writings – published and unpublished – in a single file arranged chronologically. The published material includes journal articles and book chapters. The unpublished material includes manuscripts of articles either rejected or not submitted for publication, as well as typewritten “notes” or short essays on various topics. The original chronological arrangement of this series has been retained (1957-2006).

Oral Presentations (Box 13): This single box consists mostly of papers delivered at conferences and workshops. This series is arranged chronologically (1955-2002).

Miscellaneous Files (Boxes 14-15): These files include material on the American Family Therapy Association, notes on Wynne’s 2000 visit to Cuba, material on George L. Engel and the biopsychosocial model, and documents pertaining to the Wynne Family Research Center. There are also seven files on the W.H.O.-sponsored studies for which Wynne was principal investigator between 1977 and 1995. This series of arranged alphabetically by name of the corporate entity.

Correspondence (Box 16): This series consists of a single box of correspondence arranged chronologically. The bulk of this correspondence spans the dates 1991 to 2006.


Container List

BOX ONE

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (1980)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (1981)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (1982-1983)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (1984-1985)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (1986)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Jan-Jul 1984)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Oct 1987)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (Oct-Dec 1987)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (1988)
  • Folder 10: Finnish studies (Feb-Apr 1989)
  • Folder 11: Finnish studies (May-Nov 1989)

BOX TWO

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (1990)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Jan-Mar 1991)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Apr 1991)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Jun-Sep 1991)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Oct-Nov 1991)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Jan 1992)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Feb-Mar 1992)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (Apr-Sep 1992)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (Nov-Dec 1992)

BOX THREE

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (Jan-Jun 1993)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Jul-Dec 1993)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Jan-Jun 1994)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Aug-Oct 1994)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Jan-Feb 1995)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Mar 1995)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Apr 1995)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (May-Aug 1995)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (Sep 1995)
  • Folder 10: Finnish studies (Dec 1995-Mar 1996)

BOX FOUR  

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (Apr-Aug 1996)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Sep 1996)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Oct-Dec 1996)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Jan-May 1997)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Jun-Sep 1997)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Oct-Dec 1997)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Jan-Jun 1998)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (Jul-Dec 1998)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (Jan-Mar 1999)

BOX FIVE

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (May-Sep 1999)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Oct 1999)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Nov-Dec 1999)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Jan 2000)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Feb-Mar 2000)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Apr 2000)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (May-Jun 2000)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (Jul-Dec 2000)

BOX SIX

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (Jan-Apr 2001)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (May-Aug 2001)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Sep-Nov 2001)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Dec 2001)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Jan-Feb 2002)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Mar 2002)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Apr 2002)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (May 2002)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (Jul-Aug 2002)
  • Folder 10: Finnish studies (Sep-Dec 2002)

BOX SEVEN

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (Jan-Mar 2003)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Apr 2003)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (May-Sep 2003)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (Oct-Dec 2003)
  • Folder 5: Finnish studies (Jan 2004)
  • Folder 6: Finnish studies (Feb 2004)
  • Folder 7: Finnish studies (Mar-Jun 2004)
  • Folder 8: Finnish studies (Jul-Sep 2004)
  • Folder 9: Finnish studies (Oct-Dec 2004)

BOX EIGHT

  • Folder 1: Finnish studies (Jan 2005)
  • Folder 2: Finnish studies (Mar-Aug 2005)
  • Folder 3: Finnish studies (Sep-Dec 2005)
  • Folder 4: Finnish studies (2006)

BOX NINE

  • Folder 1: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1957-1958)
  • Folder 2: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1959)
  • Folder 3: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1960)
  • Folder 4: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1961)
  • Folder 5: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1962-63)
  • Folder 6: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1964)
  • Folder 7: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1965)
  • Folder 8: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1965)
  • Folder 9: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1966)
  • Folder 10: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1966)
  • Folder 11: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1967)

BOX TEN

  • Folder 1: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1968)
  • Folder 2: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1969)
  • Folder 3: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1970)
  • Folder 4: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1970)
  • Folder 5: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1971)
  • Folder 6: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1971)
  • Folder 7: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1972-1975)
  • Folder 8: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1976)

BOX ELEVEN

  • Folder 1: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1977-1979)
  • Folder 2: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1981-1983)
  • Folder 3: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1984-1985)
  • Folder 4: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1987-1990)
  • Folder 5: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1991-1992)
  • Folder 6: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1993-1995)
  • Folder 7: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1996-1997)
  • Folder 8: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (1999-2001)

BOX TWELVE

  • Folder 1: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (2002-2003)
  • Folder 2: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (2004-2005)
  • Folder 3: Publications & Unpublished Manuscripts (2006)

BOX THIRTEEN

  • Folder 1: Oral presentations (1955-1956)
  • Folder 2: Oral presentations (1957-1958)
  • Folder 3: Oral presentations (1959)
  • Folder 4: Oral presentations (1960)
  • Folder 5: Oral presentations (1961)
  • Folder 6: Oral presentations (1962-1963)
  • Folder 7: Oral presentations (1964-1965)
  • Folder 8: Oral presentations (1966-1969)
  • Folder 9: Oral presentations (1970-1971)
  • Folder 10: Oral presentations (1973)
  • Folder 11: Oral presentations (1974-1991)
  • Folder 12: Oral presentations (1999-2002)

BOX FOURTEEN

  • Folder 1: Biographical material
  • Folder 2: Newspaper clippings
  • Folder 3: American Family Therapy Association
  • Folder 4: American Family Therapy Association. Archive committee (1986-1988)
  • Folder 5: American Family Therapy Association. Archive committee (1989-1995)
  • Folder 6: American Family Therapy Association. Award to Susan McDaniel (2000)
  • Folder 7: Cuba trip (2000)
  • Folder 8: Engel, George L. Biopsychosocial model
  • Folder 9: University of Rochester. Post-Graduate Family Therapy Program catalog (1998)
  • Folder 10: W.H.O. studies (1977-1979)
  • Folder 11: W.H.O. studies (1980-1981)
  • Folder 12: W.H.O. studies (1982)
  • Folder 13: W.H.O. studies (1983-1989)

BOX FIFTEEN

  • Folder 1: W.H.O. studies (1990)
  • Folder 2: W.H.O. studies (1991-1992)
  • Folder 3: W.H.O. studies (1993-1995)
  • Folder 4: Wynne Family Research Center (1996-2005)

BOX SIXTEEN

  • Folder 1: Correspondence (1974-1979)
  • Folder 2: Correspondence (1991-1996)
  • Folder 3: Correspondence (1997-1999)
  • Folder 4: Correspondence (2000)
  • Folder 5: Correspondence (2001)
  • Folder 6: Correspondence (2002)
  • Folder 7: Correspondence (2003-2004)
  • Folder 8: Correspondence (2005-2006)