In Memoriam

John Archibald became interested in the brain while assisting the rehabilitation of his sister who suffered a stroke. John trained in EEG technology at Phoenix College where his leadership abilities quickly became apparent. He was energetic, extremely motivated, and always seeking more and more knowledge.

John’s intense interest if the field of neurophysiology motivated him to obtain a B.S. in psychology and a Master’s degree in physiological psychology. His enthusiasm was a driving force behind the creation of the compressed spectral analysis monitoring program and the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. John’s tremendous energy also moved him to publish numerous articles on neurodiagnostic topics. “Clinical Applications of Compressed Spectral Analysis (CSA) in OR/ICU Settings” (Vol. 25, pages 13 to 36) and “Human Variance to High Dose Thiopental Therapy as Determined by EEG/CSA Monitoring”(Vol. 25, pages 225 to 239) were published in 1985 in the American Journal of EEG Technology. John was definitely on the cutting-edge and ahead of his time.

Although John loved doing the technical and research part of EEG, anyone who knew him, knew his first love was teaching others what he had learned. John played a very active role in the EEG training program at St. Joseph’s, teaching students about neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and what they needed to know to be not just good technologists but great ones. His expectations of his students, and his col-leagues, were an ever increasing standard.

In December of 1995 John was faculty for an ASET Focus Course on Intra-operative Monitoring. John prepared three papers and presented three excellent lectures. After returning home to Phoenix, his complaint of a persistent sinus infection led to the discovery of multiple metastatic brain tumors.

Shortly after hearing of John’s diagnosis, his many co-workers and friends at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix created a fund in his name. John subsequently requested that any money collected be used to create an ASET scholarship. In May1996, Cathy Cross (A SET’s Director of Education at that time and a close friend of John’s) worked with John to establish the fundamental guidelines for the scholarship which reflected his desires. The guidelines are: a scholarship to support one student in an accredited END program and, in the second half of the student’s training, the funds to attend the ASET Annual Conference.

John was very pleased with the establishment of the John Archibald Student Scholarship and ASET is very proud to have played a small part in the establishment of his professional legacy. John’s condition steadily declined and he died on June 10,1996. The first scholarship was awarded in 1997.

Information for this article was gleaned from “In memory of our friend, John Archibald, M.A., R.EEP/EP T.” authored by Karen Ledin, R. EEG/EP T., Steve Cordova, R. EEG/EP T., CNIM, and Cathy Cross, R. EEG/EP T., RPSGT published in the July 1996 issue of the ASET Newsletter.

Originally published in:

The Neurodiagnostic Journal, 47: 64–65.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1086508X.2007.11079612