In Honor Of… Jean Mandler and George Mandler
Honoring scientists who have made important and lasting contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
Jean Mandler, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
University of California, San Diego
Jean Mandler received her degree from Harvard University in 1956. She was a research associate at Harvard and the University of Toronto, and a lecturer at the University of California San Diego before becoming a professor of Psychology at UCSD in 1973. She is currently Distinguished Research Professor of Cognitive Science at UCSD, as well as visiting professor at University College London. She played a pivotal role in developing the Cognitive Science Department at UCSD.
Jean Mandler has been a pioneer in shaping contemporary theories of cognitive development. The scope of her research covers a wide span of knowledge representations, including animacy, spatial relations, concept hierarchies, scripted activities, story grammars, pictorial scenes and discourse. In the past twenty years she has produced a theory of infant conceptual development as impressive as that of Piaget. This project, informally known as “how to build a baby,” uncovered a number of complex cognitive processes in infancy that underlie the adult conceptual system. She is the author of The Foundations of Mind: Origins of Conceptual Thought (a recipient of awards from APA and the Cognitive Development Society), Stories, Scripts, and Scenes: Aspects of Schema Theory, and other books. She has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from APA and Fellow status in the Society for Experimental Psychology and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Jean Mandler’s professional contributions include being associate editor of Psychological Review, as well as serving on the boards of a number of journals and National Science Foundation panels. She also served on the governing board (and was chair) of the Psychonomic Society.
George Mandler, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
University of California, San Diego
George Mandler received his degree from Yale in 1953. He taught at Harvard University and the University of Toronto before he went on to become the founding chair of Psychology at the University of California at San Diego in 1965 and Director of the Center for Human Information Processing. He is currently a visiting professor at University College London in addition to being distinguished professor emeritus at UCSD, where they named a building in his honor (Mandler Hall). He emigrated from Vienna to England after the German invasion in 1938, a history that can be read in his book Interesting Times: An Encounter with the 20th Century.
George Mandler was a central figure in the cognitive revolution launched in the 1950’s and 1960’s, with signature contributions in the psychology of memory, consciousness, and emotions. He is particularly recognized for his research contributions in organization of memory, theories of recall and recognition, the return of studies of consciousness to the psychological sciences, and the integration of mind, body, and emotions. He is the author of Mind and Emotion, Mind and Body: Psychology of Emotion and Stress, Human Nature Explored, A History of Modern Experimental Psychology, and other books. He has received numerous awards and recognition, including the William James Award from APA, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Fellow status in the Society for Experimental Psychology and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
His contributions to the profession of psychology are unequalled. His service includes being editor of Psychological Review, governing board member and chair of the Psychonomic Society, president of two Divisions of APA (Experimental Psychology and General Psychology), chair of the Council of Editors of APA, chair of the Society for Experimental Psychologists, and founding president of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences.
Individuals Honoring Jean and George Mandler:
Ellen S. Berscheid, University of Minnesota
* Fergus Craik, Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest University
Lawrence Erlbaum
Morton Ann Gernsbacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lila R. Gleitman, University of Pennsylvania
* Art Graesser, University of Memphis
Andrew Ortony, Northwestern University
Stephen E. Palmer, University of California, Berkeley
K. E. Patterson
MitchellRabinowitz,Fordham University
Daniel Schacter, Harvard University
Nancy L. Stein, University of Chicago
Deanna Wilkes-Gibbs
Pat Worden, California State University San Marcos
* The FABBS Foundation would like to thank Dr. Fergus Craik and Dr. Art Graesser for nominating Dr. Jean Mandler and Dr. George Mandler for this honor and for leading the effort to spread the word about their nomination.
