What I Think I May Have Learned—Reflections on 50 Years of Teaching: An Interview with Michael Wertheimer

Abstract

Kurt Michael is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Appalachian State University (ASU) where he teaches history and systems of psychology, abnormal psychology, child psychopathology, and interventions for children and adolescents. He received his BA (cum laude) from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his MS and PhD in clinical psychology from Utah State University. He completed his internship in clinical psychology at Duke University Medical Center. His empirical research has focused on the assessment and treatment of child and adolescent psychopathology, meta-analytic designs, and the efficacy of brief interventions for excessive alcohol consumption among college students. In addition to his teaching and research endeavors, he serves as associate director for Clinical Services at ASU's Institute for Health and Human Services. Michael Wertheimer, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has won awards for the teaching of psychology, for service, and for contributions to the history of psychology. After earning his BA (with high honors) from Swarthmore College and an MA in psychology from The Johns Hopkins University, he received his PhD in experimental psychology from Harvard University under the supervision of S. S. Stevens and Edwin G. Boring. He also worked for 1 semester as a full-time research assistant to social psychologist Solomon E. Asch. His career at the University of Colorado at Boulder (after teaching for 3 years at Wesleyan University) included decades of service as director or codirector of the departmental honors program in psychology (1956 to 1993) as well as the presidency of Divisions 1 (General), 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology), 24 (Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology—twice), and 26 (History) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and of Psi Chi and the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. Among his scholarly endeavors in the history of psychology is the preservation of his father's (Max Wertheimer) contributions to the development of Gestalt theory (King & Wertheimer, 2005). He is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award of the American Psychological Foundation and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained, Outstanding, and Unusual Contributions to the History of Psychology from the APA's Division 26.