Ronald R. Fieve (1930–2018)

Ronald Robert Fieve was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on March 5, 1930. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. While a resident at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in the 1950s, he began experimenting show more with lithium to mitigate depression. He and Dr. Ralph N. Wharton went on to identify lithium as the first naturally occurring medication to prevent and control a specific psychiatric disorder and reduce the risk of relapses. In 1966, Fieve established the first lithium clinic in North America. In 1970, he and several other researchers persuaded the Food and Drug Administration to approve the prescription of lithium salts for acute mania. He wrote several books including Moodswing: The Third Revolution in Psychiatry; Prozac: Questions and Answers for Patients, Family and Physicians; and Bipolar Breakdown. He died from congestive heart failure on January 2, 2018 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less