Jerome L. Singer

Professor of Psychology and Child Study 

Jerome Singer, B.A. College of the City of New York, Ph.D. the University of Pennsylvania, faculty member at Yale since 1972: Your own imagination led you to study the most basic aspects of human existence, including consciousness, cognition, affect, and of course imagination itself. With a relentlessly curious mind and a steady scientific hand, you helped give birth to a field that made the inner workings of the human mind a legitimate area of experimental inquiry.

Founding a journal, lecturing around the world, working closely with generations of graduate and undergraduate students, and writing or editing nearly 30 books with titles such as The Power of Human Imagination and The Stream of Consciousness, you have shared your knowledge in ways that have inspired countless others. Your work with Dorothy Singer on the impact of media on children is truly groundbreaking. Showing how children can be affected adversely by media violence, and how characters delivering positive educational and social messages can have a beneficial impact, you help define the national debate about factors central to the lives of the nation’s children. Known as a gracious mentor and colleague, you approach science as you have your life, with dignity, insight, creativity, and respect for others. As you retire, your colleagues wish you to know that they admire your scholarship and humanity, and are grateful for your contributions to Yale and the world’s intellectual community.