A Tribute to APS Fellows Lost in 2023

Endel Tulving • Howard M. Weiss • Lyle E. Bourne, Jr. • Reuben Baron • Stephen E. Palmer • Eric Klinger • Roland Griffiths • William E. Pelham, Jr. • Robert Proctor • John Tooby

The Observer honors the APS Fellows who passed away over the past year and left an indelible mark on scientific psychology. Their groundbreaking studies and theories have advanced fields ranging from clinical psychology to neuroscience.   

Endel Tulving 

University of Toronto 
May 27, 1927 – September 11, 2023 

A cognitive neuroscientist and APS William James Fellow, Tulving is considered one of the leading psychologists of the 20th century. Tulving coined the term episodic memory—how we remember experiences tied to specific moments from our past. His theories and research on the fragility of episodic memory elevated our understanding of dementia and other cognitive disorders and injuries. 

Howard M. Weiss 

Georgia Institute of Technology
August 19, 1949 – February 20, 2023 

An industrial-organization psychologist and APS Past Board Member, Weiss and APS Fellow Russell Cropanzano (University of Colorado Boulder) developed the Affective Events Theory (AET), which distinguished the role of work events, emotions, and moods in job performance and decision-making. AET became a major tool in I/O psychology research.  

Lyle E. Bourne, Jr. 

University of Colorado Boulder 
April 12, 1932 – March 2, 2023 

Bourne’s early research on conceptual behavior has gone on to inform large language models. He also studied mental arithmetic; classification skill acquisition; and training, retention, and transfer. 

Reuben Baron 

University of Connecticut
August 1, 1936 – June 25, 2023 

Baron’s research focused on social perception and social cognition. He and his colleague David Kenny (University of Connecticut) coauthored a 1986 paper on statistical methods that became the most cited paper in the history of psychology. 

Stephen E. Palmer 

University of California, Berkeley 
June 1, 1948 – July 29, 2023 

A leading researcher on visual perception, Palmer studied aesthetics, color preferences, spatial composition, cross-modal associations, and perceptual organization. His work expanded our understanding of cognitive representation and perceptual organization. 

Eric Klinger 

University of Minnesota Morris
May 23, 1933 – September 13, 2023 

Klinger was recognized as a leading international authority on personality and motivation. His influential goal theory of current concerns and mind flow gave rise to instruments to measure motivation as well as interventions for alcohol misuse and depression.    

Roland Griffiths 

Johns Hopkins University
July 19, 1946 – October 16, 2023 

Griffiths studied the effects of a range of substances, including opiates, cocaine, sedatives, alcohol, and nicotine. He is best known for unearthing the addictive qualities of caffeine and for his groundbreaking research showing that psilocybin mushrooms induced feelings of joy, love, and other deep emotions in a sample of psychologically healthy adults. That work kick-started scientific interest in the use of psychedelic drugs to treat addiction and mood disorders.   

See a related article on Griffiths’ research: Psychedelic Research Reborn: Opening the Doors of Creativity and Social Connection

William E. Pelham, Jr. 

Florida International University
January 22, 1948 – October 21, 2023 

A highly honored clinical psychologist, Pelham pioneered evidence-based behavioral treatment programs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). His work helped shift clinical guidelines in favor of behavioral interventions—as opposed to pharmaceutical treatment—as the first line of treatment for youth with ADHD.  

Robert Proctor 

Purdue University
February 22, 1949 – October 30, 2023 

Proctor was a prolific researcher who explored the applications of cognitive science to the human-centered design of technology. He was also the editor of the American Journal of Psychology, the oldest psychological science journal in the United States.  

John Tooby 

University of California, Santa Barbara
July 26, 1952 – November 9, 2023 

Tooby and his wife, Leda Cosmides (University of California, Santa Barbara), pioneered the field of evolutionary psychology. Tooby used cross-cultural, experimental, and neuroscience techniques to explore cooperation, group psychology, and human reasoning.