Jan Fawcett

Jan A. Fawcett (March 31, 1934 – May 9, 2022) was an American psychiatrist, educator, and author. His research career focused on the mechanism of action of antidepressant medications and the development of more effective medications for severe depression and treatment modifiable factors leading up to suicide.

Early life and education Fawcett was born in Jamestown, New York. He was educated at the Hamburg High School in Hamburg, NY. He spent two years at the Naval Academy at Annapolis before earning a bachelor's degree in science at the University of Rochester in 1956. In 1960, he earned his medical degree at Yale Medical School. After a rotating internship year at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in San Francisco, CA, he became a resident in psychiatry at the University of California’s Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute. He then graduated from two additional years of residency at the University of Rochester - Strong Memorial Hospital. He then went on for a two year research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health at Bethesda, MD.

Career Fawcett is a professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico Medical Center. He was previously the Stanley Harris Jr. Chairman of Psychiatry at the Rush University Medical Center for 30 years. and the discovery of more effective medications for severe depression as well as treatment modifiable factors leading up to suicide. Fawcett also worked as a mental health consultant for The Oprah Winfrey show.

Fawcett’s opinion has been sought on numerous high profile cases throughout the years. Notably, he interviewed and provided a psychological profile of serial killer John Wayne Gacy after meeting with him in his cell. He also testified against Dr. Jack Kevorkian during his murder trial. Fawcett opined that the individuals with non-fatal illnesses who sought Kevorkian’s services were actually depressed and that treating their depression might’ve alleviated their desires to die. Dr. Fawcett has also provided testimony in innumerable cases of wrongful death or malpractice related to patients who committed suicide.

Fawcett served as the president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He was also a member of the scientific board of the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation.

Personal life and death Fawcett had five children and four grandchildren. Fawcett and his wife, Katie Busch, lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Fawcett died after a long health struggle in Santa Fe, on May 9, 2022, at the age of 88.

Publications

Fawcett, Jan (2010). DSM-V Perspectives on Classification of Bipolar Disorder. In: Bipolar Disorder: Clinical and Neurobiological Foundations. Rihmer, Z, Fawcett, J. (2010). Suicide and Bipolar Disorder. In: Bipolar Disorder: Clinical and Neurobiological Foundations. Fawcett, Jan (2012). Diagnosis, traits, states, and comorbidity in suicide. In: The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide.

Fawcett. Jan (2014) Is suicide clinically preventable? What is the evidence? In: Suicide: Phenomenology and Neurobiology.