James L. Stinnett, M’65, an emeritus professor of psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on April 6 from complications related to Multiple Myeloma. He was 84.

Born in Washington, DC, Dr. Stinnett graduated from Princeton University in 1960. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine five years later. During the latter half of the 1960s, Dr. Stinnett served in the U.S. Army, eventually achieving the rank of Captain and receiving a Distinguished Service Award. He returned to Penn afterwards, completing his residency there in 1970. Soon after, in 1972, Dr. Stinnett joined the Penn faculty as an associate professor of psychiatry; he was promoted to a full professor in 1985. In 1978, he was appointed director of consultation and laison psychiatry, a position he held until 2005. He also held many other leadership roles in the Penn Medicine community, including director of clinical services in the department of psychiatry, chair of the medical board, acting director of clinical practices, and acting vice dean of clinical affairs.

During his career, Dr. Stinnett received numerous accolades, awards and honors, including the I.S. Ravdin Master Clinician Award from the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society’s “Practitioner of the Year” award. His clinical excellence was recognized both regionally and nationally: He was designated a “Top Doc” by Philadelphia Magazine and recognized as one of the Best Doctors in America several times. He received the Resident Teaching Award from the department of psychiatry many times and received the Penn Pearl Teaching Award, the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Albert Stunkard Faculty Recognition Award. In 2005, a portrait of Dr. Stinnett was commissioned for the Clinical Research Building’s second-floor lobby, where it hangs today. Dr. Stinnett retired and took emeritus status that same year; in his retirement, he served on the board of Penn Medicine’s Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (ASEF).

While a faculty member at Penn, Dr. Stinnett earned the respect of his students and colleagues for his wisdom and compassion. In an online tribute, former students note that “many decades of Penn medical students, residents, and faculty are better physicians because of him” and that “he taught hundreds of residents, many of whom went on to share the lessons he taught with hundreds more.”

In his free time, Dr. Stinnett loved traveling to his family home on Hamloaf Island off the coast of Harpswell, Maine, where he enjoyed many summers with family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Carol Anderson Stinnett; his three sons, Jonathan (Kelly), David (Teresa Synn), Nathaniel (Melanie Wachtel Stinnett); his stepdaughter, Rachel Forrest (James Chiavaroli); his grandchildren, Avalon, James, Skye, Aaron and Olivia; and his sisters, Karen Gelband and Savannah Lewis.

A private celebration of life gathering will be held at a future date. Contributions in Dr. Stinnett’s memory can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (www.themmrf.org) or to Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org).