James “Jim” C. Coyne, a professor emeritus of psychology in the department of psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on November 10, 2024, in Oakland, California. He was 77.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Dr. Coyne graduated from New London High School in 1965, then went on to receive a BA from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1968 and a PhD in psychology from Indiana University Bloomington in 1975. After interning in clinical psychology at the University of Florida, Dr. Coyne began his professional career as an instructor at Miami University. After advancing to assistant professor there, Dr. Coyne joined Penn’s faculty in 1998 as an instructor in psychiatry in the School of Medicine.

The next year, Dr. Coyne became a professor clinician-educator in the departments of psychiatry and family medicine at Penn; he held these positions, both teaching and fulfilling clinical duties, until retiring from Penn in 2013 and assuming emeritus status.

While at Penn, Dr. Coyne’s work evaluating psychological assessment, depression screening, and suicide prevention programs was highly influential. Dr. Coyne also conducted research on the care of women suffering from perinatal period depression and on the combined influence of gender, marital status, and race in identifying patients with cancer at risk for poor outcomes. This work was supported by millions of dollars’ worth of grants from Penn and from national scholarly organizations.

In addition to his work at Penn, Dr. Coyne held faculty positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, as well as visiting professorships at universities around the United States and in the Netherlands, Scotland, and Australia. He wrote five books and over 400 peer-reviewed articles and was ranked the 200th most influential psychologist of the second half of the 20th century in a 2014 list published in the Archives of Scientific Psychology.

“Jim was a brilliant, controversial, irreverent and socially conscious individual who was passionate about promoting robust debate, and debunking ‘hype and pseudoscience,’” said his family. “He will be remembered for his remarkable contributions to the psychology world and as a defender of expression without undue fear of reprisal. To his family, he was a beloved husband, brother and uncle, who will be greatly missed.”

Dr. Coyne is survived by his wife, Melany Hoffman; her son, Aaron Black; his sister, Pati Macrino (Don); their children, Joseph (Sarah Macrino), Olivia Macrino, and Marceline (Brian Dillon); and his five great-nephews and nieces, Elvis, Coral, Ozzy, Tallulah and Jack.