Dr. Howard S. Mele, of Princeton, was 88.
PRINCETON -- Dr. Howard S. Mele, a psychiatrist from Princeton who treated John Nash Jr., the Princeton University mathematician and Nobel Prize winner featured in the hit film "A Beautiful Mind," died Monday at the age of 88.
Mele remained friends with Nash and his wife, Alicia, unntil their deaths last year in a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, according to an obituary announcement from the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home in Princeton.
Dr. Howard MeleA native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mele attended Princeton University, earning a psychology degree in 1948. He earned his medical degree from the State University of New York and completed a year of his residency at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in New York City before serving for two years in U.S. Air Force, the obituary said.
He went on to hold numerous clinincal and educational posts in psychiatry, including at Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia, UMDNJ, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway and the Carrier Clinic in Montgomery, where he was clinical director of the addiction recovery unit as well as the president of the medical staff. He also had a private practice.
Mele met Nash at the Carrier Clinic, the obituary said.
Nash responded quickly to Mele's treatments of medication and therapy, including group therapy, which Mele particularly favored to help treat his schizophrenia. He also helped Nash initiate relationships with other people, a difficult task for schizophrenics, the obituary said.
Nash left Carrier and agreed to seek outpatient treatment if needed and Mele felt Nash's recovery was permanent and that he would gradually be able to handle teaching one or two courses, enabling him to reestablish his status.
Late mathematician John Nash honored at Princeton U.
Nash shared a Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994, the year before he joined the Princeton University mathematics department as a senior research mathematician.
Mele's obituary said he was especially pleased with the public awareness that "A Beautiful Mind" garnered.
Mele was an avid tennis player and he and his wife, Grace, promoted the arts in Princeton and New York City, and advocated the promotion of Italian culture and education.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Grace Romano Mele and four children and a brother.
The Mather-Hodge home on Vandeventer Avenue will hold a viewing, June 1 from 3 to 8 p.m., and a memorial service will take place on Thursday, June 2 at the Princeton University Chapel at 10:30 a.m. The burial at Princeton Cemetery is private.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Mele's memory to the National Italian American Foundation, 1860 19th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009-5501 or the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ 08540.
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