Professor Emeritus of Psychology in Psychiatry
Passed by the IUPUI Faculty Council at their meeting on May 5, 2009.
Indiana University and Larue Carter Hospital lament the passing of their esteemed colleague on April 5, 2009, when Victor Milstein died after a prolonged struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Victor (Vic) had been a member of the Department of Psychiatry and the Larue Carter Hospital staff for 30 years. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received his BA from Brooklyn College in 1951. He completed an MA from City College of New York in 1952 and his PhD from the University of Oregon in 1959 where he remained on the faculty until coming to Indiana in 1970. He was appointed Associate Professor at Indiana University at that time and was ultimately promoted to full Professor.
He contributed substantially to research, teaching, and treatment at Carter Hospital. He supervised the clinical and research electrophysiology laboratories and was involved in all aspects of research planning, execution, presentation, and publication. He was author and/or co-author of more than 100 chapters and papers on topics including epilepsy, the EEG in psychiatry, electrophysiology of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and drug treatments as well as clinical and quantitative EEG studies of schizophrenia, bipolar illness, and other mental disorders. He developed an elective rotation for freshmen medical students and was always available to students and staff for consultation with individual projects. In the treatment arena he became closely involved with the administration of ECT and was engaged in all components of the treatment process. He contributed to the content and publication of the American Psychiatric Association Task Force Report on ECT and was an authoritative source of information on the subject. He willingly shared this knowledge with students and others from many disciplines.
He belonged to numerous professional organizations including the American EEG Society where he was elected Secretary for several years, an unusual honor for a non-physician. Other active memberships were with the American Psychological Association, the Association of Convulsive Therapy, and the International Society for Brain Electromagnetic Topography, and the Society for Biological Psychiatry. He will be remembered for his dedication to research, his warm collegial relationships, and his devotion to his family. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Rhoda, his two children, Wendy and Michael, a sister and four grandchildren.
Presented to the Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis Faculty Council with copies to his family.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joyce G. Small, M.D.
Iver F. Small, M.D.
Jeffrey J. Kellams, M.D.