Michael Wertheimer (psychologist)

Michael Wertheimer
Michael Wertheimer
Born	Michael Matthew Wertheimer; March 20, 1927; Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany
Died	December 23, 2022 (aged 95)
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	Swarthmore College; Johns Hopkins University; Harvard University
Spouses	Nancy MacKaye (m. 1950; div. 1965) Marilyn Schuman (m. 1970)
Awards	American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award (1983)
	Scientific career
Fields	Psychology
Institutions	University of Colorado Boulder
Thesis	A study of normal threshold variations in time (1952)

Michael Matthew Wertheimer (March 20, 1927 – December 23, 2022)^[1] was a German-born American psychologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focused on cognition, psycholinguistics, and the history of psychology, among other areas.^[2]

Early life and education

Wertheimer was born on March 20, 1927, in Berlin, Germany. He emigrated to the United States with his family in September 1933 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in April 1939. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1947 with a BA in psychology with high honors. He received his MA from Johns Hopkins University in psychology in 1949 and his PhD in experimental psychology from Harvard University in 1952.^[3]

Career

Wertheimer first became a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1955, and he retained this title until his retirement in 1993.^[3]^[2] He was a member of the Condon Committee.^[4] He served as president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. His awards included American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award in 1983, the APA Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award in 1990, and the American Psychology Association's (APA) Award for Outstanding Contributions to Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology in 2009.^[5]^[6] He was inducted to PSI CHI International Honor Society for Psychology. He published numerous books and articles, concluding with his personal memoir, Facets of an Academic's Life (2020).

Personal life

Wertheimer was the son of Max Wertheimer, one of the founders of Gestalt psychology.^[7] His mother, Anni (née Caro), came from a family of doctors, including her father and an uncle, Ludwig Pick. Wertheimer's parents divorced in 1942, when he was 15. Wertheimer married Nancy MacKaye in 1950; they had three children together before their divorce in January 1965. He married Marilyn Schuman in September 1970.^[3]