JULIAN B. ROTTER, PHD 1916-2014
As some of you know, Dr. Julian B.
Rotter is the author of Social Learning Theory, upon which much of this Blog is
based.
It was my great privilege to study
and work with Dr. Rotter, starting at Ohio State University where I served as
his student and research assistant, and later relocated to the University of
Connecticut when Dr. Rotter joined the UCONN faculty.
It is with great respect I present
the following Obituary:
Julian B. Rotter, Professor Emeritus
of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, died in his home on January 6,
2014. He was 97 years old.
He is survived by his wife Doffie
Hochreich Rotter, his daughter Jean Rotter, and his older brother Saul Rotter,
M.D. Jules, as he was known to his family, friends and colleagues, was
predeceased by his first wife Clara E. Barnes Rotter, his son Richard, and
Jules' brother Norman Rotter. Jules was born on October 22, 1916 In Brooklyn,
N.Y. to Abraham Rotter and Bessie Goldstein Rotter.
He attended primary and secondary
school in that borough and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from
Brooklyn College. His formal education proceeded at the University of Iowa where he received a Master's degree in Psychology and
culminated with a Ph.D. in Psychology from Indiana University.
He served in the U.S. Army
during World War II
and married Clara Rotter in 1941. His daughter Jean was born in 1947 and his
son Richard was born in 1949. His academic career began at Ohio State
University whose Psychology faculty he joined in1949. He rapidly rose to the
rank of Full Professor and directed the Clinical Psychology graduate program
for nine years.
In 1963 he joined the Psychology
faculty of the University of Connecticut and directed it's Clinical program
until his retirement in 1987. During his years at Connecticut Clara Rotter died
in 1985 and he married his friend and colleague Doffie in 1997.
Professor Rotter's career was extraordinarily
productive, so much so that he has been identified as one of the most
influential psychologists of the twentieth century by the American Psychological
Association and by the BBC which included him in a series they called the
"Mind Changers".
He wrote many scholarly articles,
produced three widely used measurement scales, and a ground-breaking book
"Social Learning and Clinical Psychology." His works were widely
cited and he mentored over 100 graduate students most of whom became highly
competent academics or clinical practitioners. He taught those students the
importance of grounding theory and practice in carefully controlled
experimentation, a lesson which was sorely needed in the early and mid
twentieth century, an era when speculation was often substituted for science.
Among his many honors were the APA's
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and an Honorary Doctorate from the
Ohio State University.
As impressive as was Jules'
professional career, his qualities as a human being were even greater. He was
insightful, empathetic, compassionate, and possessed an admirable social
conscience. The word " mensh" has crept from Yiddish into the vernacular.
Leo Rosten in his "Joys of Yiddish" offers three definitions: 1.
human being, 2. an upright, honorable, decent person and, 3. someone of
consequence; someone to admire; someone of noble character. Jules was all of
these.
He was a Mensh.
