Melvin S. Heller, 93, psychiatrist
Melvin S. Heller, 93, of Haverford, a longtime Philadelphia-area psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine, died Tuesday, Jan. 12, of respiratory failure in the hospice unit at Bryn Mawr Hospital.
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Melvin S. Heller, 93, of Haverford, a longtime Philadelphia-area psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine, died Tuesday, Jan. 12, of respiratory failure in the hospice unit at Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Dr. Heller was a pioneer in the field of forensic psychiatry, a subspecialty of psychiatry, as it relates to the law. A forensic psychiatrist provides determinations such as the competency of a defendant to stand trial.
In 1957, Dr. Heller and law professor Samuel Polsky cofounded Temple University's Unit in Law and Psychiatry.
The two men taught medical-legal courses and established a successful and innovative forensic psychiatry fellowship program at Eastern State Penitentiary.
Dr. Heller "helped to found the field of forensic psychiatry and was a leader in this field for over 40 years," said daughter Joan Heller Miller.
Born in Boston to first-generation European immigrants, Dr. Heller graduated from Tufts University in 1943 and Tufts Medical School in 1948.
After graduating, he trained in surgery at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and then in surgery and psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.
Dr. Heller was commissioned a senior assistant surgeon in the U.S. Public Health Service at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., where he was the chief and only psychiatrist for 1,100 prisoners in maximum security.
Afterward, he completed a fellowship in child psychiatry at the Child Study Center of the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and training analysis at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute.
Dr. Heller was a consultant for the Citizens' Crime Commission of Philadelphia, the Court of Common Pleas, the Children's Aid Society, and the Pennsylvania Prison Society.
He also served as a consultant to ABC-TV's department of broadcast standards on the depiction of sexuality and violence on television. His research in the early 1970s led to the network's publication of broadcast standards for sensitive material in 1978.
He was the author of many books and journal articles in the fields of medicine and psychiatry.
Outskirts Press in Denver announced publication of the second volume of his memoir, Every Knock Is a Boost: Book Two, The Reproductive, Productive, and Reflective Years - Memoirs of a 20th Century Psychoanalyst. The first volume was published last April.
"With a prolific memory and passion for writing and family, Dr. Heller published two volumes of memoirs in his last year," his family said.
Dr. Heller's wife, Irmgard B., died in 2005. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by sons David and Paul; six grandchildren; a great-grandchild; and his second wife, Jane Lasdon. His first wife, Jane Harris, died in 2010.
A celebration of life was held Sunday, Jan. 17.
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