Dr. Barron B. Scarborough

 

 

Excerpt from :

Psychology: 1900-1989 A Brief History by Barron B. Scarborough

     A related event was also underway in 1988. Mike Rashotte, who was Psychology's Chair, suggested a history of the department be arranged via a photographic display of the faculty and former faculty members. Additionally, he expressed the desire to display some of the laboratory equipment used in years past which still existed around the department.

     As a result of discussions among a number of the senior faculty members it was decided to get photographs of those faculty members with a minimum tenure of 20 years in the department. It was also agreed to include those with less than 20 years who were no longer in the department but judged to have made significant contributions to departmental programs. The expressed desire was to include all faculty who directed graduate students in their Ph.D. programs so that in future visits of the graduates to the department they would see the photographs of their professors.

     In gathering the material for the Chair a number of Conradi's photos became available. His photograph was used as a starting point with the other photographs aligned in chronological order of tenure in the department and in keeping with the agreed criteria for inclusion. Unfortunately, a number of former faculty members did not respond to our request for photos. However, Charles Badland's expertise in photographing current faculty and in his reproduction of photos from originals of various sizes and quality, pictures in yearbooks and from other sources, made it possible to arrange the photos into groups with a pleasing perspective. The challenge of how to hang the photographs was nicely handled by Stan Warmath. Stan also agreed to collect the old lab equipment for eventual display.

     In June 1989 there was a dedication of a series of photographs in a ceremony in room 229 KRB, where a number of the presentations gave an "Historical Perspective" of the department. This event and the reality of the Edward Conradi Endowed Scholar Chair convinced Mike Rashotte that the time was right for the department to have a document which pictured the route it had followed in years past. It was the consensus of the senior faculty that the document should embody, in addition to the distant past, some of the recent efforts as expressed during the presentations of the Historical Perspective ceremony. Howard Baker, Dick Husband, Dan Kenshalo, Wally Kennedy and I were asked by Mike to assume the responsibility for gathering the desired information and assembling a brief history. This Committee decided that a major portion of the document would be the "recollections" of the early years in the department by the members of the Committee. Their "memories" would include a brief account of the early History of the University and of the early History of the Department. The members of the Committee represented a cross section of the areas offered in the discipline with the exception of the School program. Will Nelson was asked to "recollect" for that area. Additionally, the Committee felt it could significantly enhance the purpose and goal of the effort by obtaining "recollections" from former faculty members. Accordingly, included in the Appendix are letters received in response to their request. Dr. George Weaver, the current Chair of the department, has added A Brief Update.