Richard Ronald Bootzin's Obituary
Richard R. Bootzin, 74, died suddenly at home on Dec. 4 after fighting off heart disease for 35 years. He was born in Milwaukee WI on Feb. 25, 1940, the eldest son of the late Arnold and Evelyn Bootzin. He was graduated from Washington High School in Milwaukee, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin/Madison and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University. He was a professor of psychology at Northwestern University for 19 years and joined the psychology faculty at the University of Arizona in 1987. His area of interest was sleep and sleep disorders with particular attention to insomnia. Stimulus control, his non-drug treatment for insomnia, is studied and used world wide, including at the Veterans’ Administration, as the gold standard for the disorder. As president of the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System, he also was a leader in the effort to assure that science-based treatments are the norm in clinical psychology by accrediting clinical psychology departments throughout the United States that are science-based. He was honored by the Sleep Research Society for being an outstanding teacher and mentor and his legacy continues in the exciting work his dozens of students are contributing to the study of sleep and sleep disorders. Dr. Bootzin is survived by his wife, Maris (Mitzi), daughters Deborah (Michael) Daniels and Lainey (Todd) Melnick, brother Jerold (Judy) and sister Enid Berkovits, grandchildren Jennifer (Emily Lake) Daniels, Melissa (Steve) Gruender, Alex (Travis) Horne, Daniel Freeman, Skylar and Sydney Melnick. Great grandsons are Elijah and Judah Horne. Services will be held 10 AM, Monday, December 8, 2014 at Evergreen Mortuary, N. Oracle & W. Miracle Mile. Burial will follow in the Congregation Or Chadash section of Evergreen Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) Patrons’ Fund. Contributions can be sent to PCSAS, 1101 E. Tenth Street, IU Psychology Building, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007.
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