Andrew Keogh Ruotolo, M.D. 1926?1979

Abstract

Dr. Andrew K. Ruotolo, a devoted teacher on the faculty of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis and a member of the Institute's Board of Trustees, died of a heart attack on August 8, 1979. Dr. Ruotolo was 53 years old. He maintained an active practice in psychoanalysis and psychiatry in Westfield, New Jersey, for over 20 years. Among Dr. Ruotolo's broad range of interests was a sustained curiosity about the psychodynamics of homicide. Steeped in the theories of Dr. Karen Homey, Dr. Ruotolo applied her concepts to the dynamics of murder and legal sanity in articles and, most recently, in a book Once upon a Murder. Years in the writing and based upon still more years of experience with alleged and convicted murderers, Once upon a Murder was published by Grosset and Dunlop on September 12, a month after its author had died. A graduate of Yale College in 1945 and Cornell Medical School in 1948, Dr. Ruotolo served as an intern at Martland Hospital in Newark and completed a residency in psychiatry at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. He also served in the Korean War with the First Marine Division as a lieutenant in the Navy, senior grade. Dr. Ruotolo took his psychoanalytic training at the American Institute for Psychoanalysis. Subsequently, he joined the faculty of the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health but later accepted an invitation to return to the Institute. He also served as consulting psychiatrist for the Seton Hall University Counseling Center. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, of the New Jersey Medical Association, and of the American Medical Association. Esteemed for his teaching and clinical abilities, Dr. Ruotolo had a gift for conveying the value of nuance and symbolism both by the impact of his personal presence and by his utter devotion to the Horneyian concept. He loved to teach. Of the activities that thrilled his life, teaching at the Institute was one of those he enjoyed the most. He will be sorely missed.