Albert J. ("Mickey") Stunkard (February 7, 1922 – July 12, 2014) was an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

. He is known for his first descriptions of

binge eating disorder Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, o ...

and

night eating syndrome Night eating syndrome (NES) is an eating disorder, characterized by a delayed circadian pattern of food intake. Although there is some degree of comorbidity with binge eating disorder, it differs from binge eating in that the amount of food consum ...

in the 1950s.

Life

Albert Stunkard was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, as the son of

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Horace Stunkard. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1943. He received his MD from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1945. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was a lifelong student of

D. T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

. From 1973 to 1977 he was the head of the psychiatric department at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Yet, he spent the majority of his career as a

and

researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Death

He died on July 12, 2014 in his Bryn Mawr,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, home from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. He is generally considered as one of the most famous pioneers in

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

research. His work in 1959 is regarded as the beginning of pessimism about long-term

weight management Weight management includes the techniques and physiological processes that contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain a certain weight. Most weight management techniques encompass long-term lifestyle strategies that promote healthy ...

. There is a chair professorship at the

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...

named for Stunkard. Holders of the chair have included Thomas A. Wadden.

Selected publications

* Albert J. Stunkard, Andrew Baum (Eds.): ''Perspectives in Behavioral Medicine – Eating, Sleeping, and Sex''. 1st edition. Psychology Press, Hove, UK 1989, * Thomas A. Wadden, Albert J. Stunkard (Eds.): ''Obesity: Theory and Therapy''. 2nd edition. Raven Press, New York 1993, . * Kelly C. Allison, Albert J. Stunkard, Sara L. Thier: ''Overcoming Night Eating Syndrome''. New Harbinger Publications, Oakland 2004, * Thomas A. Wadden, Albert J. Stunkard (Eds.): ''Handbook of Obesity Treatment''. 1st edition. The Guilford Press, New York 2004, * Jennifer D. Lundgren, Kelly C. Allison, Albert J. Stunkard (Eds.): ''Night Eating Syndrome: Research, Assessment, and Treatment''. 1st edition. The Guilford Press, New York 2012, .

References

External links

Festschrift about Albert Stunkard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stunkard, Albert 1922 births 2014 deaths American psychiatrists Yale University alumni Columbia University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Pennsylvania Scientists from New York City People from Manhattan Stanford University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty United States Army personnel of World War II American expatriates in Japan