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April 27, 2017

Obituary: Gerald Goldstein

obit.gerald goldsteinFormer Pitt psychiatry and psychology faculty member Gerald Goldstein, who was a senior research career scientist at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, died April 8, 2017. He was 85.

Goldstein was known for his research and service contributions to the field of neuropsychology.

He earned his B.A. in psychology at the City College of New York in 1953 and his M.S. in clinical psychology there in 1956. He served in the U.S. Army as a personnel management specialist, 1954-56.

In 1962, he earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Kansas.

Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, he was a lecturer at the University of Kansas-Lawrence, 1965-75, and a faculty member at the Menninger School of Psychiatry, 1973-75.

He also was employed as a research psychologist, 1962-75, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Topeka, Kansas.

He came to Pittsburgh in 1975, joining the Veterans Administration Medical Center here as chief of neuropsychology research and the Pitt faculty first as an assistant professor then associate professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine. In 1988, he was named a professor of psychiatry.

He also had a faculty appointment in psychology, serving as an associate professor, 1977-88, and was appointed a full professor there in 1988.

He was acting director of the neurodiagnostic unit at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 1977-80.

He held various positions at Pittsburgh Veterans Administration Medical Center, including senior research career scientist and deputy associate chief of staff for research and development.

Goldstein published more than 350 refereed articles, books and other scholarly publications.

He was a member or fellow in several professional and scientific societies, including the American Psychological Association, the Society for Research in Psychopathology, the National Academy of Neuropsychologists and the American Psychopathological Association.

He served as president of the International Neuropsychological Society, the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the Division of Clinical Neuropsychology of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Among his honors was the Department of Veterans Affairs Service Award for 60 Years of Service, the APA Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Neuropsychology Award, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology’s Distinguished Service Award and Nelson Butters Award for research contributions to clinical neuropsychology.

Goldstein was best known for his seminal research contributions to the neuropsychology of alcoholism and schizophrenia, and neuropsychological rehabilitation.

James Becker, a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry, said of Goldstein: “Pitt lost a genuinely great man.”

Becker said that as recently as this February Goldstein still was attending professional meetings and making scientific contributions, publishing as a first author on a paper as recently as last year.

Goldstein is survived by his sister Sandra Gardos; nieces Danielle Gardos and Alicia Gardos-Crumlich; and nephew Eric Gardos.


—N.J. Brown


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