OBITUARIES
Mary J. Wright (1915-2014) Mary J. Wright, a pioneer in Canadian psychology, passed away in her 99th year, on April 23, 2014, in her hometown of Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. Wright was the first female director of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA, 1959), its first female president (1968), and its first honor ary president (1975). She was the first female chair of a major psychology department in Canada and a strong ad vocate for early childhood education. She was also an avid historian of psychology, which included the writing and editing, with her long-time friend Roger Myers, of the History o f Academic Psychology in Canada (1982). The History and Philosophy section of CPA has an award named after her. Mary’s many honors included being awarded four honorary degrees and a Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal. She was elected a fellow in both CPA and the American Psychological Association. Mary was bom in Strathroy on May 20, 1915, the youngest of five children and the only daughter of Ernest Wright and Mary Jean Clark Wright, members of a prom inent family in Southwestern Ontario and owners of the Wright Piano Company. Her brother Donald, along with her other brothers, Clark, Ernest, and William, formed a big band that had considerable success in the late 1920s and 1930s. In later years Donald had a radio show on NBC, married a daughter of a former Canadian prime minister, and created music scholarships. Mary’s niece, Priscilla Wright, had an international hit (and appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show) for her recording of “Man in a Raincoat.” In 1935, Mary entered the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychology in 1939. At the University of Toronto, where she went for graduate training, she fell under the influence of William E. (Bill) Blatz and became a lifetime advocate of ideas that arose from his “security theory,” a precursor to modem attachment theory. Although her original plan was to obtain a master’s degree and then work as a clinician, her interactions with Blatz and the realities of World War II intruded, and she was recmited by him to go work in England to assist in training nursery staff for children dislo cated by the conflict. At war’s end she returned to Canada and the University of Toronto, where she completed her doctorate in 1949 (with a thesis examining whether advanced classes for gifted children in earlier grades were reflected in their perfor mance in secondary school). Even before completion of her doctorate, Mary Wright was hired at the University of Western Ontario as an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Psychology (1946). Psychology at Western separated from philosophy and became an independent administrative unit in 1948, because of, as the story goes, antipathy toward psychology by the then-president of the university, who thought that psychology would wither on the vine by being isolated from philosophy.
October 2014 • American Psychologist © 2014 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 7, 703 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037601
Today the Psychology Department at Western is an interna tionally ranked, research-intensive department. However, in those days, the department had few laboratories, was housed in various buildings across campus, had few active research ers, and was oriented toward the study of applied and human istic psychologies. Even as a junior faculty member Mary was determined to change the face of the department. When she consulted D. O. Hebb of McGill University about what he thought was needed to make such a change, he convinced her that the department had to get support first from the so-called hard scientists on campus by demonstrating to them that psychology too was a “hard” experimental science. To those who knew her, Mary had a blunt, no-nonsense way about her. She said what she thought. In 1959, concerned that she would be scolded for acting in a way “unbecoming” a woman, she submitted a brief to the dean outlining what she felt was needed to develop a modem, research-based psychol ogy department. Her strong advocacy efforts were rewarded by the freeing of funds for new equipment, the development of laboratories, and authorization for additional hires. In 1960 Mary became the chair of the Psychology Department, a position she held until 1970. One of her hiring coups was that of Alan Paivio, whom she enticed to Western from the University of New Brunswick (UNB), an act that very much angered the president of UNB. On the other hand, the president of her own university glee fully congratulated her. Through the mid-1960s she continued her restructuring of the department by hiring a cadre of young active researchers. Besides Paivio, “her” hires included Doug Jackson, Doreen Kimura, Milton Rokeach, Gord Mogenson, Case Vanderwolf, Zenon Pylyshyn, Bob Gardner, and Neil Vidmar, among many others, and laid the foundation for the department of today. Wanting to put her views on early childhood education into practice, in 1973 Mary succeeded in establishing a Uni versity Laboratory School (the now aptly named Mary J. Wright Laboratory School) based in part on the principles of Blatz. Mary served as the school’s first director until her retirement in 1980. During the lab school’s early years, Mary conducted a large-scale research project that explored the benefits of early years education, resulting in an influential book, Compensatory Education in the Preschool: A Canadian Approach (1983). When she was 94, Mary published her last paper, “The Secure Preschooler: Nurturing Creativity With Courage, Wis dom With Responsibility,” in the journal Canadian Psychol ogy (2010, 57, 231-240). Mary was a generous benefactor to the University of Western Ontario and to her hometown. She died as she lived, a strong believer in and supporter of the Anglican Church. Albert N. Katz University o f Western Ontario
703
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.
Mary J. Wright (1915-2014) Mary J. Wright, a pioneer in Canadian psychology, passed away in her 99th year, on April 23, 2014, in her hometown of Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. Wright was the first female director of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA, 1959), its first female president (1968), and its first honor ary president (1975). She was the first female chair of a major psychology department in Canada and a strong ad vocate for early childhood education. She was also an avid historian of psychology, which included the writing and editing, with her long-time friend Roger Myers, of the History o f Academic Psychology in Canada (1982). The History and Philosophy section of CPA has an award named after her. Mary’s many honors included being awarded four honorary degrees and a Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal. She was elected a fellow in both CPA and the American Psychological Association. Mary was bom in Strathroy on May 20, 1915, the youngest of five children and the only daughter of Ernest Wright and Mary Jean Clark Wright, members of a prom inent family in Southwestern Ontario and owners of the Wright Piano Company. Her brother Donald, along with her other brothers, Clark, Ernest, and William, formed a big band that had considerable success in the late 1920s and 1930s. In later years Donald had a radio show on NBC, married a daughter of a former Canadian prime minister, and created music scholarships. Mary’s niece, Priscilla Wright, had an international hit (and appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show) for her recording of “Man in a Raincoat.” In 1935, Mary entered the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychology in 1939. At the University of Toronto, where she went for graduate training, she fell under the influence of William E. (Bill) Blatz and became a lifetime advocate of ideas that arose from his “security theory,” a precursor to modem attachment theory. Although her original plan was to obtain a master’s degree and then work as a clinician, her interactions with Blatz and the realities of World War II intruded, and she was recmited by him to go work in England to assist in training nursery staff for children dislo cated by the conflict. At war’s end she returned to Canada and the University of Toronto, where she completed her doctorate in 1949 (with a thesis examining whether advanced classes for gifted children in earlier grades were reflected in their perfor mance in secondary school). Even before completion of her doctorate, Mary Wright was hired at the University of Western Ontario as an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Psychology (1946). Psychology at Western separated from philosophy and became an independent administrative unit in 1948, because of, as the story goes, antipathy toward psychology by the then-president of the university, who thought that psychology would wither on the vine by being isolated from philosophy.
October 2014 • American Psychologist © 2014 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 7, 703 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037601
Today the Psychology Department at Western is an interna tionally ranked, research-intensive department. However, in those days, the department had few laboratories, was housed in various buildings across campus, had few active research ers, and was oriented toward the study of applied and human istic psychologies. Even as a junior faculty member Mary was determined to change the face of the department. When she consulted D. O. Hebb of McGill University about what he thought was needed to make such a change, he convinced her that the department had to get support first from the so-called hard scientists on campus by demonstrating to them that psychology too was a “hard” experimental science. To those who knew her, Mary had a blunt, no-nonsense way about her. She said what she thought. In 1959, concerned that she would be scolded for acting in a way “unbecoming” a woman, she submitted a brief to the dean outlining what she felt was needed to develop a modem, research-based psychol ogy department. Her strong advocacy efforts were rewarded by the freeing of funds for new equipment, the development of laboratories, and authorization for additional hires. In 1960 Mary became the chair of the Psychology Department, a position she held until 1970. One of her hiring coups was that of Alan Paivio, whom she enticed to Western from the University of New Brunswick (UNB), an act that very much angered the president of UNB. On the other hand, the president of her own university glee fully congratulated her. Through the mid-1960s she continued her restructuring of the department by hiring a cadre of young active researchers. Besides Paivio, “her” hires included Doug Jackson, Doreen Kimura, Milton Rokeach, Gord Mogenson, Case Vanderwolf, Zenon Pylyshyn, Bob Gardner, and Neil Vidmar, among many others, and laid the foundation for the department of today. Wanting to put her views on early childhood education into practice, in 1973 Mary succeeded in establishing a Uni versity Laboratory School (the now aptly named Mary J. Wright Laboratory School) based in part on the principles of Blatz. Mary served as the school’s first director until her retirement in 1980. During the lab school’s early years, Mary conducted a large-scale research project that explored the benefits of early years education, resulting in an influential book, Compensatory Education in the Preschool: A Canadian Approach (1983). When she was 94, Mary published her last paper, “The Secure Preschooler: Nurturing Creativity With Courage, Wis dom With Responsibility,” in the journal Canadian Psychol ogy (2010, 57, 231-240). Mary was a generous benefactor to the University of Western Ontario and to her hometown. She died as she lived, a strong believer in and supporter of the Anglican Church. Albert N. Katz University o f Western Ontario
703
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.
