Oliver Sacks

From Psy3242

Biography

Oliver Sacks is a practicing neurologist, who is most famous for his books featuring patients' case studies he has encountered throughout his career. He was born July 9, 1933 in London, England. He was brought up among a family of doctors and scientists, his mother was a surgeon and his father was a general practitioner. Oliver followed in his family’s foot steps. He earned his medical degree from Queen’s College at Oxford University. He completed his residencies at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco and at UCLA. Later he moved to New York to begin his practice. He began working as a consulting neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital in New York City. This hospital was the place where he met with many of the people that inspired his books, all beginning with the patients with sleeping sickness, whom he treated with L-Dopa to bring out of their vegetative state. A recount of this was used to make his book Awakenings.

Sacks has been published many times throughout his career. He has received many acknowledgements for his literary achievements including the Lewis Thomas Prize by Rockefeller University, which recognized him as a poet. He is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The New York Times referred to him as “the poet laureate of medicine.” He has written many best selling books; besides his own works, he has greatly participated to neurological literature through his collaborations with and contributions to the works of many other professionals in the field.

Books

• Migraine (1970)
• Awakenings (1973)
• A Leg to Stand On (1984)
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985)
• Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf (1990)
• An Anthropologist on Mars (1995)
• The Island of the Colorblind (1996
• Uncle Tungten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (2001)
• Oaxaca Journal (2002
• Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2007)

Recognition

Oliver Sacks has received recognition throughout his career for his exemplary work. These include honorary degrees, awards, memberships, among others. He has honorary fellowships to a variety of different organizations:

• American Academy of Arts and Letters
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• American Neurological Association
• Association of British Neurologists
• Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University
• New York Academy of Sciences
• New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU
• Queen’s College, Oxford
• Royal College of Physicians
• University of California, Santa Cruz, Cowell College

Sacks has inducted as a member to the following groups:

• Alpha Omega Alpha
• American Academy of Neurology
• American Fern Society
• Authors’ Guild
• British Pteridological Society
• Bronx County and NY State Medical Societies
• New York Mineralogical Club
• New York Stereoscopic Society
• PEN
• Society for Neuroscience

He has received 11 honorary degrees from Universities around the world, including:

• 1990 Georgetown University, Doctor of Humane Letters
• 1991 Tufts University, Doctor of Science
• 1991 College of Staten Island, CUNY, Doctor of Humane Letters
• 1991 New York Medical College, Doctor of Science
• 1992 Medical College of Pennsylvania, Doctor of Medical Science
• 1992 Bard College, Doctor of Science
• 2001 Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Doctor of Laws
• 2003 Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Doctor of Medical Science
• 2005 Gallaudet University, Doctor of Laws
• 2005 University of Oxford, Doctor of Civil Law
• 2006 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú

In addition he has received many awards for his work:

• 1970 Alpha Omega Alpha, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• 1973 Book of the Year, The Observer, AWAKENINGS
• 1974 Hawthornden Prize for Imaginative Literature, AWAKENINGS
• 1988 American Psychiatric Association, Oskar Pfister Award
• 1989 American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters, Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award
• 1989 Guggenheim Fellowship (for work on the neuro-anthropology of Tourette’s Syndrome)
• 1991 The Scriptor Award, University of Southern California, AWAKENINGS
• 1991 Odd Fellows Social Concern Book Award, SEEING VOICES
• 1991 Prix Psyche'
• 1991 National Headache Foundation, Professional Support Award
• 1991 American Academy of Neurology, Presidential Citation
• 1991 American Neurological Association, Special Presidential Award
• 1991 The Royal National Institute for the Deaf, Communicator of the Year Award
• 1991 Assn of Neuroscience Depts & Programs, Award for Education in Neuroscience
• 1994 George S. Polk Award for Magazine Reporting, "An Anthropologist on Mars"
• 1994 National Association of Science Writers Award, "An Anthropologist on Mars"
• 1995 Esquire/Apple/Waterstone's Book of the Year, AN ANTHROPOLOGIST ON MARS
• 1996 Mainichi Publishing Culture Award, Tokyo, Best Natural Science Book, SEEING VOICES
• 2000 Cornell University, A.D. White Professor-at-Large
• 2001 New York Times Editors’ Choice, UNCLE TUNGSTEN
• 2002 Lewis Thomas Prize for the Scientist as Poet, Rockefeller University
• 2002 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship (Music and the Brain)
• 2002 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize, UNCLE TUNGSTEN
• 2004 National Science Foundation Public Communication Award
• 2004 Tanner Lecturer in Human Values, Yale University
• 2004 Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Associations, Mental Health Award
• 2004 E.A. Wood Scientific Writing Award, American Crystallographic Association
• 2004 New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science and Technology
• 2004 Literature Award of the German Chemical Industry Fund, UNCLE TUNGSTEN

Currently Oliver Sacks work has brought him around the world. He has encountered many people of a variety of cultures. However, he continues to reside in New York. He currently holds the position of Professor of Clinical Neurology and Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center. File:Example.jpgFile:Example.jpg

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