Herbert Benson, M.D. ’61, HMS Mind/Body Medical Institute distinguished professor of medicine and director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute, died February 3 in Boston. Considered the father of mind/body medicine, he became fascinated with the field as a young cardiologist at the Medical School in the 1960s after noticing that patients’ blood pressure was often higher when they visited a doctor’s office than when they took readings at home. He speculated that the difference was stress. He and colleagues at Boston City Hospital devised a way to train monkeys to raise and lower their blood pressure using rewards. Later he studied the physiological responses of those who practiced Transcendental Meditation and found that meditation brought physiologic changes, notably a drop in heart rate, metabolic rate, and breathing rate. His research extended to meetings with the Dalai Lama and trips to India to study the deep meditation practice of Tibetan monks. His key finding: there are concrete, documentable health benefits to meditating 10 to 20 minutes each day. His first book, The Relaxation Response, became a bestseller when it came out in 1975; his many other books include The Mind/Body Effect, The Wellness Book, and Timeless Healing: The Power of Biology and Belief. He leaves his wife, Marilyn (Wilcher), and two children, Gregory and Jennifer.