In Honor Of…Lawrence Erlbaum
FABBS Foundation honors former CEO and founder of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates for his wisdom, dedication, and invaluable contributions to the field of psychological science.
Lawrence Erlbaum
Founder, Publisher, and CEO
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Lawrence Erlbaum is unique in both publishing and psychological science. As the founder of his own publishing company, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Erlbaum is known for his business savvy and his dedication to disseminating academic research. His specialty lies in helping learned societies and their journals on the path toward financial success. His interest in psychological science and focus on making academic research available has made him a legendary figure and a respected friend to many scientists.
Erlbaum grew up in Newark NJ, in the Weequahic section. He started a class paper in the 4th grade (nonprofit!), was the editor of the high school paper, and worked on the Columbia Spectator, but he writes “it never occurred to me that I would be a publisher. It was only after watching mismanagement as an editor that I realized I needed to be a publisher.”
He started his business, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (LEA), at his kitchen table. He reports, “Yes, the garage was my first storage facility (warehouse is too grand), but the kitchen table was ground zero…. I packed books, saved twine, really saved every penny.”
Erlbaum was prescient and daring, publishing some of the cognitive revolution’s first volumes. Among the first titles LEA published in 1974:
Garner, W. — The Processing of Information and Structure
Gregg, L. (ed) — Knowledge and Cognition, CMU Symposium series
Kamin, L. — The Science and Politics of IQ
Kantowitz, B. — Human Information Processing
Kintsch, W. — The Representation on Meaning in Memory
Murdoch, B. — Human Memory: Theory and Data
Osherson, D. — Logical Abilities in Children
Schachter, S., and J. Rodin — Obese Humans and Rats
Solso, R. — Theories in Cognitive Psychology. The Loyola Symposium
Wyer, R. — Cognitive Organization and Change
Weiner, W. and Palermo, D. (eds) — Cognition and the Symbolic Processes
As the APS Observer (January 2007) noted on the occasion of his retirement:
He had started the business at his kitchen table 33 years ago with “less than $10,000.” Various news accounts pegged the [November 2006] sale at many millions, attributing it to Bloomberg News, “but even they got it wrong,” Erlbaum says. He won’t specify the amount but concedes, “I made an indecent amount of money.” Not bad for a self-described “yeshiva boy” from Newark, New Jersey.
Individuals Honoring Lawrence Erlbaum
Allan M. Collins
David A. Dunning, Cornell University
*Robert S. Feldman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
*Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University
Dorothy M. Fragaszy, University of Georgia
Morton Ann Gernsbacher, University of Wisconsin, Madison
*Arthur C. Graesser, University of Memphis
John W. Hagen, University of Michigan
Diane F. Halpern, Claremont McKenna College
Lisa L. Harlow, University of Rhode Island
Leaetta M. Hough, The Dunnette Group
Alan Lesgold, University of Pittsburgh
Xiaodong Lin-Siegler, Columbia University
James L. McClelland, Stanford University
J. Bruce Overmier, University of Minnesota
Vimla Patel, New York Academy of Medicine
Scott L. Plous, Wesleyan University
James R. Pomerantz, Rice University
Valerie F. Reyna, Cornell University
Wendy A. Rogers, Georgia Institute of Technology
PeterSalovey, Yale University
Daniel Schacter, Harvard University
Patrick Shrout, New York University
Robert Siegler, Carnegie Mellon University
PaulaSkedsvold, FABBS & FABBS Foundation
Barbara A. Spellman, University of Virginia
Robert J. Sternberg, Oklahoma State University
Thomas S. Wallsten, University of Maryland, College Park
Elke U. Weber, Columbia University
Robert Wyer, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
