Gordon L. Paul (1935-2014) Gordon L. Paul was a foundational scholar in the transformation of clinical psychology from its beginnings in anecdotal, largely untestable explanation and practice to the evidence-based assess ment and intervention that currently characterize the field. His journey to that end was unorthodox. Gordon was bom on September 2, 1935, in Marshalltown, Iowa. He recalled his family dynamics as complex and challeng ing. An only child, Gordon was surrounded by a large extended family in which the behavioral and emotional problems of several relatives were to sow the seeds for his later career. But first there was music. Gordon’s ambition was to be a professional musician, and in 1954 he was admitted to the U.S. Naval School of Music. An episode of performance anxiety resulting in a failed music exam whetted his appetite for things psychological, and he began read ing psychology books. These readings, along with the prospect of life as a contract musician, led to a change in career plans. He enrolled in psychology at San Diego City College and after service in the Navy moved to the University of Iowa to finish his undergraduate degree. The experimental approach and deempha sis of clinical work at Iowa paradoxically strengthened his com mitment to psychodynamic approaches and a future as a practic ing clinician. In 1960 Gordon moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for graduate school. The strong empiricist tradition there presented a challenge: how to gather evidential support for psychodynamic concepts? His master’s thesis on unconscious learning was the first of his studies in which unex pected empirical results led to conceptual changes. Contrary to the received wisdom of academic psychology at the time, Gordon was influenced by the developing body of theory and research in behavior therapy, which argued that clinical psychology could and should be a scientific endeavor and that statements about assessment and intervention must be evaluated using rigorous scientific methodology. His dissertation comparing insight versus desensitization in the treatment of performance anxiety, pub lished in 1966 by Stanford University, became an instant classic and solidified his conceptual shift to a broad-based social learning orientation. A postdoctoral internship at the Palo Alto Veterans Admin istration Hospital provided exposure to ward-wide treatment pro grams and to further involvement in the tumult that was then sweeping clinical psychology. Gordon returned to Illinois as an assistant professor in 1965 and within four years published five Citation Classics examining methodological issues in the study of psychotherapy. His formulation of the ultimate clinical research question—What treatment, by whom, is most effective for this individual, with that specific problem, under which set of circum stances, and how does it come about?— became a mantra for the emerging evidence-based assessment/treatment movement. In the late 1960s Gordon turned his attention to the treat ment of chronic mental patients. Utilizing the same uncompro mising commitment to rigorous methodology evident in his pre 704
vious work, he undertook a comparative outcome study of unit wide treatment programs for the most severely disabled chronic mental patients. The resultant five-year study, published in 1977 by Harvard University Press, was unprecedented in its scope and depth, and the results, supporting a broad-based social-learning program guided by a comprehensive assessment system, pro vided the field with a scientifically grounded framework for effective interventions for even the most severe disabilities. How ever, to his continuing disappointment, change in hospital prac tice based on his research remained less than it could have been. In 1980 Gordon accepted a Distinguished Professorship at the University of Houston, joining a group of scholars focused on the seriously mentally ill. His attempts to disseminate empirically supported treatment programs through the public mental health system were ultimately unsuccessful, so he moved to complete work on the comprehensive assessment systems that he viewed as integral to best practices in residential treatment. The resulting three book-length research monographs (coauthored with former students) presenting the psychometric development of these sys tems were a revolutionary rethinking of assessment for decision making in residential treatment settings. Gordon received numerous awards and honors including the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (Section 3 of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association) and the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology from APA Divi sion 12. He retired in 2011 but continued to mentor students and colleagues and was working up to the day of his sudden death on April 15, 2014. Gordon was one of the most highly cited researchers of his time and had a profound influence on the development of mod ern-day clinical research. He not only prescribed the methodolog ical underpinnings for evidence-based clinical research, he fol lowed his own prescription. His was a reasoned voice against fads and orthodoxies of any stripe. Gordon is survived by Jo, his wife and best friend of nearly 60 years, his sons Dennis and Dana, his daughter Joni, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His great passions were his family, flying (he was an accomplished pilot), vintage Studebakers, and a scientifically based clinical psychology. His calm demeanor, creative intelligence, and keen understanding of the human condition were a model of what a clinical psychologist should be. At the “graduation ceremony” into independent living of the first chronic patient from the experimental units, Gordon whispered, “That is why we are here.” His favorite quotation was from his intellectual forefather, William James: “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” There is no better epitaph for one of the giants. Marco J. Mariotto
University of Houston Gerald C. Davison
University of Southern California October 2014 • American Psychologist © 2014 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 7, 704 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037570
Copyright of American Psychologist is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
vious work, he undertook a comparative outcome study of unit wide treatment programs for the most severely disabled chronic mental patients. The resultant five-year study, published in 1977 by Harvard University Press, was unprecedented in its scope and depth, and the results, supporting a broad-based social-learning program guided by a comprehensive assessment system, pro vided the field with a scientifically grounded framework for effective interventions for even the most severe disabilities. How ever, to his continuing disappointment, change in hospital prac tice based on his research remained less than it could have been. In 1980 Gordon accepted a Distinguished Professorship at the University of Houston, joining a group of scholars focused on the seriously mentally ill. His attempts to disseminate empirically supported treatment programs through the public mental health system were ultimately unsuccessful, so he moved to complete work on the comprehensive assessment systems that he viewed as integral to best practices in residential treatment. The resulting three book-length research monographs (coauthored with former students) presenting the psychometric development of these sys tems were a revolutionary rethinking of assessment for decision making in residential treatment settings. Gordon received numerous awards and honors including the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (Section 3 of Division 12 of the American Psychological Association) and the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology from APA Divi sion 12. He retired in 2011 but continued to mentor students and colleagues and was working up to the day of his sudden death on April 15, 2014. Gordon was one of the most highly cited researchers of his time and had a profound influence on the development of mod ern-day clinical research. He not only prescribed the methodolog ical underpinnings for evidence-based clinical research, he fol lowed his own prescription. His was a reasoned voice against fads and orthodoxies of any stripe. Gordon is survived by Jo, his wife and best friend of nearly 60 years, his sons Dennis and Dana, his daughter Joni, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His great passions were his family, flying (he was an accomplished pilot), vintage Studebakers, and a scientifically based clinical psychology. His calm demeanor, creative intelligence, and keen understanding of the human condition were a model of what a clinical psychologist should be. At the “graduation ceremony” into independent living of the first chronic patient from the experimental units, Gordon whispered, “That is why we are here.” His favorite quotation was from his intellectual forefather, William James: “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” There is no better epitaph for one of the giants. Marco J. Mariotto
University of Houston Gerald C. Davison
University of Southern California October 2014 • American Psychologist © 2014 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 7, 704 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037570
Copyright of American Psychologist is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
