Leston Havens
American psychiatrist (1924–2011)
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Dr. Havens is best known for his work on biological psychiatry, the rehabilitation of severely ill patients, and methods of interviewing patients. He was also a pioneer in the establishment of hospital psychopharmacology units.
Early life
Havens was born on July 31, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York City, where he also grew up. His father was a lawyer, and Havens originally considered law as a career path before deciding on medicine. When he entered Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, he studied English and history, as well as philosophy. In 1944, during World War II, he joined the U.S. Army, serving until 1946. He was stationed on Tinian, a captured Japanese island in the Pacific, where he located and detonated abandoned ammunition. After his discharge from the military, Havens completed his B.A. magna cum laude, in 1947.
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Academic life
Havens went on to attend Cornell Medical School, graduating with his M.D. in 1952. He served as an intern in Internal Medicine at the New York Hospital and stayed there until 1954 as an assistant resident. Havens completed his residency from 1954 to 1958 at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital (now the Massachusetts Mental Health Center). This began a long connection with the Harvard University Medical School. In 1954, Havens was appointed as a Teaching Fellow in Psychiatry at Harvard and by 1971 was promoted to full professor status at Harvard Medical School.
While at Boston Psychopathic, Havens founded the Psychopharmacology Unit; one of the first in the country and one that would become famous. There he completed many studies on Electroconvulsive Therapy. Between 1964 and 1982 Havens directed the medical student clerkship at Boston Psychopathic.
From 1987 to 1996, Havens directed the psychiatry residency program at Cambridge Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. At Cambridge, he taught psychiatrists and psychologists. He taught his students to listen and relate to their patients rather than categorize or pathologize them.
Many of his lectures and recorded sessions are stored on the archived version of the Harvard Leston Havens M.D. Teaching Site.
Awards
Leston Havens received many awards throughout his career.
- 1952 Cornell University Medical School: Morton prize in Internal Medicine, Samuel prize in ophthalmology, Alpha Omega Alpha
- 1958 A.E. Bennett Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry
- 1962 McCurdy Prize, Massachusetts Society for Research in Psychiatry
- 1970 Fried Lecture, Newton-Wellesley Hospital
- 1973 Who's Who in America
- 1977 H.C. Solomon Award with Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D.
- 1979 Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Harvard Medical School, plus numerous nominations
- 1979 Elvin Semrad Teaching Award, Massachusetts Mental Health Center
- 1981 Valentina Donahue-Turner Award for Teaching, Harvard Medical School
- 1986 Harry Stack Sullivan Lecture, The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital
- 1986 Honorable Bernard Towson-Lectureship in Psychiatry, Cornell North Shore Hospital
- 1989 Frieda Fromm Reichman Lecturer, Washington Psychiatric Society
- 1992 Price Lecture, Trinity Church, Boston, MA
- 1995 Benjamin Rush Award and Lecture, American Psychiatric Association
- 1995 Nomination for 1995 Harvard Medical School Award for Excellence in Mentoring
- 1997 William F. Orr Lecture
- 1997 Zigmond Lebensohn Lecture
- 1998 Lee Hasenbush Lecture, MMHC
- 1998 Jacob Finesinger Lecture, University of Maryland
- 1999 Honorary Member, William Alanson White Institute, New York