DEATHS
Lyman W. Riley, of Van Pelt Library
Lyman W. Riley, formerly of Van Pelt Library's Original Cataloging and Special Collections (as it was then known), died at his residence, Kendal at Longwood, Kennett Square, on February 3. He was 82 years old.
Mr. Riley was a librarian for 32 years at the University where he had been Head of Original Cataloging and Special Collections until 1983.
Among his other work at the library, Mr. Riley authored Aristotle Texts and Commentaries to 1700 in the University of Pennsylvania Library (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961) a catalogue available in Van Pelt Library's Rare Books Department. He retired in 1985. Prior to that, he was a librarian at Swarthmore Friends Library for four years. He was also an ordained minister. Mr. Riley was a member of Kendal Friends Meeting and was formerly a member of Birmingham Friends Meeting.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Dorothy M. Hayes Riley; two sons, Jonathan B. Riley and Brian W. Riley; a daughter, Patricia L. Thomas; a brother, Wallace Riley; and five grandchildren.
Mr. Riley was predeceased by his son, David H. Riley, who died three weeks ago in Kosovo. Memorial contributions may be made to Kendal Reserve Fund, P.O. Box 100, Kennett Square PA 19348.
Dr.
Martin T. Orne: Psychotherapy Pioneer
Psychiatrist, psychologist and international authority on psychotherapy and the medical use of hypnosis, Dr. Martin Theodore Orne, died February 11, of cancer. He was 72. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1927, Dr. Orne received his M.D. degree from Tufts in 1955, with a Residency in Psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard in 1958. He was professor of psychiatry and psychology at Penn for 32 years before becoming emeritus professor in 1996.
As teacher, scientist and practicing physician, Dr. Orne was widely recognized for his work in hypnosis, memory, biofeedback, pain management, lie detection, sleep and the roles played by specific and nonspecific factors in psychotherapy and behavioral medicine. He also pioneered new therapeutic approaches and perspectives on patients' rights. He published the first of hundreds of scientific papers in 1951. He was editor of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis for 30 years, and the recipient of funding for his research from the NIH and many other federal agencies for 40 years. Dr. Orne was also the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees, and awards for lifetime contributions from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Throughout his scientific career, Dr. Orne collaborated with his wife, psychologist Emily Carota Orne. Their research on hypnosis and memory distortion was cited in more than 30 legal cases by state supreme courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, and it resulted in widely adopted guidelines restricting the use of hypnosis in forensic cases. Dr. Orne chaired a blue ribbon panel that helped establish the American Medical Association's standards for the forensic use of hypnosis. His work on psychotherapy and memory also helped expose the controversial practice by some psychotherapists of using suggestive techniques that encouraged the creation of false memories of trauma in their patients.
Dr. Orne was an expert witness in legal cases involving coercion and memory distortion. He was one of four defense psychiatrists who examined kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst during her trial for bank robbery. He remained convinced of her innocence and more recently urged that she be pardoned. His involvement as an expert for the prosecution in the case of Kenneth Bianchi, who was convicted in the torture and murder of young women in the hillside strangler serial murders of the 1970s, was featured in the BBC's Emmy award-winning "Mind of a Murderer" documentary.
His interest in promoting scientific research on the mind and its role in health, well-being and safety resulted in the establishment in 1961 of the nonprofit Institute for Experimental Psychiatry Research Foundation, for which Dr. Orne served as Executive Director until his hospitalization last year.
Dr. Orne is survived by his wife Emily, two children, Franklin and Tracy, and by his brother, Peter Orne. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Institute for Experimental Psychiatry Research Foundation, 1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Almanac, Vol. 46, No. 22, February 22, 2000