Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 10, Number 5, September/October 2000
In Memoriam
Martin T. Orne
Martin T. Orne, MD, a member of the American Pain Society, died February 11 of cancer. He was 72 years old.
Orne’s expertise was in hypnosis and memory distortion. A professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, Orne believed that hypnosis could be a valuable therapeutic tool. However, he found that hypnosis typically increases false memories more than it induces accurate ones.
His research was cited in more than 30 cases by state supreme courts and the U.S. Supreme Court and led to widely adopted guidelines restricting the use of testimony resulting from hypnosis in criminal cases.
Among Orne’s most infamous cases was the 1981 trial of Kenneth Bianchi, the former security guard who confessed to killing five women in the Hillside Strangler case of the late 1970s, and the 1976 trial of Patti Hearst, the heiress who stood trial for taking part in a bank robbery after being captured by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
Orne received his medical degree from Tufts University in 1955 and his doctorate in psychology from Harvard in 1958. He was professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for 32 years before retiring in 1996.
Shirley Ruth Graffam
Shirley Ruth Graffam, EdD, RN, charter member of the American Pain Society and member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, died June 20 of complications associated with pneumonia. She was 77 years old.
Long before pain became a prominent healthcare issue, Graffam advocated for more research and education in the field of algology to better prepare healthcare professionals. She developed a popular nursing elective on pain management that continues to be offered each year for graduate and undergraduate nurses. This course influenced the development of an interdisciplinary pain elective currently offered at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Graffam received her doctorate of education from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, in 1969. She joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Nursing in 1975 as the first full professor in the School of Nursing. She retired in 1990.
Graffam was a pioneer in pain education and research in nursing. She will be remembered by family, friends, and students as a role model and mentor.