[xmca] FW: Division C: We mourn the passing of Merl Wittrock

Dear Colleagues:

  Merl Wittrock, one of the most eminent scholars in the history of
educational psychology has died. Merl was a wonderful human being, a
beloved figure in our field and someone often described as the "Dean"
of educational psychologists. No one contributed more broadly to the
modern development of our field. We will all miss him!

  There will be a viewing this coming Wednesday, December 5, from
3:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Gates Kingsley Gates Moeller Murphy, 1925 Arizona
Ave., Santa Monica, CA. The funeral will take place on December 6
(Thursday) at 11am, at the Palisades Lutheran Church, 15905 Sunset
Boulevard, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, followed by a reception at
the church. The church phone number is (310) 459-2358 (you may need
this number if you are sending flowers). Donations can be made to
Palisades Lutheran Church in memory of MC Wittrock. Merl's daughter
Becky is also monitoring his email account if you wish to send a
message to the family - wittrock@ucla.edu Their home address is:
2310 Banyan Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90049.

  Merl was a professor (1960-present) in the Graduate School of
Education of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he
served as the Head of the Division of Educational Psychology
(1986-1994), was the founder and first director of the federally
funded National Center for the Study of Evaluation (1966-1969), a co-
founder of the UCLA Intern Teacher Education Program, a Co-Principal
Investigator of the California Reading First Project, and Chairman of
the Faculty (1991-1993). He was also a visiting professor at the
University of Illinois, Urbana, University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Indiana University, Bloomington, and Monash University in Australia.

  His research interests centered on learning strategies and teaching
students to learn with understanding, especially in the areas of
reading comprehension, science, and mathematics. His interests also
focused on the development of learner-centered instructional
practices and teacher development. He published over 200 books,
articles, chapters, and papers on learning, instruction and teaching,
including many research articles on his models of generative learning
and teaching for generative learning, and was the editor of the
Handbook of Research on Teaching for the American Educational
Research Association (AERA) in 1986. He was also one of the authors
of the 2001 revision of Bloom's Taxonomy, entitled A Taxonomy for
Learning, Teaching, and Assessing.

  Merl also had an outstanding record of service to our field. He
served as the President of the Division of Educational Psychology of
the American Psychological Association (APA, Division 15), as a
member of both the APA Association Council and the Board of Directors
of the American Educational Research Association, as Chair of the Los
Angeles School District's Committee on Research and Evaluation, and
as Chair of the Board of Advisors of the National Center for Research
in Mathematical Sciences Education at the University of Wisconsin.
Merl also served for 12 years as a University of California Regents'
representative on the Board ofDirectors of the WestEd Laboratory in
San Francisco.

  Merl's numerous honors included membership in over 25 national and
international Who's Whos, including Who's Who in America (1979-
present) and Who's Who in the World (1980-present). He was a Fellow
in the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association for
Psychological Science (APS), and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was also a Fellow at the Center for
Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. In addition
to awards from AERA and other organizations, in 1986 he received the
APA Thorndike Award for Distinguished Psychological Research
Contributions to Education. In 1990 he received the UCLA
Distinguished Teacher of the University Award.

  Merl is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Nancy, his son,
Steven Wittrock, his daughters, Catherine Harlow and Rebecca
Wittrock, his four grandchildren, Steven, Elizabeth, Andrew, and
Catherine, and his sister, Marianne Henry.

  He was our friend, and a friend to all who knew him...

With profound sadness,

Frank Farley (Temple University) and Claire Ellen Weinstein
(University of Texas)

--------------------------------------------------
Richard E. Mayer
Department of Psychology
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660

805-893-2472
mayer@psych.ucsb.edu
--------------------------------------------------

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Received on Mon Dec 3 11:09 PST 2007