After a long battle with cancer, Dr. Edward M. Ornitz, professor emeritus of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, died Sept. 14. He was 86.
Ornitz’s autism research countered well-accepted studies that concluded bad parenting caused the disorder. In the 1960s, Ornitz began publishing research that showed the condition was a neurological disorder, a finding that would later be applied to many childhood disorders.
Ornitz earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and went on to complete his adult psychiatry residency at Yale University. He completed a child psychiatry fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center.
He joined the UCLA faculty as a professor in 1963, lecturing and leading research on child psychiatry until his retirement in 2006.
“More than anything, he was fascinated with development and what exactly underlies how children learn,” said James McCracken, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Semel Institute and long-time colleague of Ornitz. “He pointed out the importance of studying the normal development of children as well as the abnormal.”
McCracken said Ornitz had the capacity and patience to work with people who knew little about the field and focused his career around his research and mentoring junior scientists.
“Dr. Ornitz had a gift of teaching his students how to pursue academic interests with passion, accuracy and innovation,” said Mark DeAntonio, a clinical psychiatry professor who Ornitz mentored during his 1985 fellowship. “He was one of those rare professors in the school of medicine who was outstanding in teaching, research and clinical service.”
Outside of the labs and lecture halls, Ornitz ran marathons, hiked in the Sierras and traveled the world. McCracken added Ornitz also worked on the Human Subject Protection Committee for many years and supported environmental defense clubs.
Ornitz is survived by his wife, Linda, two sons and four grandchildren.
Compiled by Kelly Gu, Bruin senior staff.