Cornelis Bakker, MD, Acting Chairman for the department from 1959-1960, died peacefully over the summer on July 12. Cor, as he was affectionately known, started his academic career in our department and worked his way up to full professor. While here, he designed and established a psycho-educational treatment program called the Adult Development Program which received an APA award for clinical innovation. He left Seattle for the University of Illinois but returned to the Northwest after five years, taking the position of Chair of Psychiatry at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. He became the most influential mental health professional in the inland region, facilitating close collaboration between Sacred Heart Hospital, the Spokane Mental Center and Eastern State Hospital. Working with our Residency Program in Seattle, he designed and established the Spokane Advanced Clinician Track which became the model for our regional track system.

Cor was beloved by his colleagues and by the residents. He was an inspiring teacher, a master clinician, an original theoretical thinker, and a wise mentor. The classes in human conflict resolution that he and his spouse, Marianne Bakker-Rabdau, taught were evaluated by the residents as “the most clinically useful of all the didactics offered during their training.” He has left a lasting mark on all those that were fortunate enough to work with him and to learn from him.