Departmental History - University of Florida Department of Psychology

History of Psychology at the 

University of Florida 

(these slides are from a History of Psychology 

course taught by Donald A. Dewsbury, 2007)

When Was the University of 

Florida Founded?

The Century Tower Was Built in 1953 to 

Commemorate the 100 th Anniversary of UF

150 th Anniversary Celebration 

• In 2003, UF had a big 

celebration to 

commemorate its 

“150 th ” anniversary

The 25 th Anniversary Celebration 

• The University 

celebrated its 25 th 

anniversary in 

1931. 

• If it was founded in 

1853, is there a 

problem with UF 

arithmetic?

The 1932 “F” Book (given to all new students) 

described the University’s history as beginning in 

1905/1906

And What About These UF Seals?

When Was UF Founded? 

• There are several dates that have been 

accepted as the founding of UF 

• According to the current, official version, it 

is dated from the founding of the East 

Florida Seminary in 1853 

• But UF had several roots 

• We will explore the dates and the reason 

for the change

Florida Will Support Two Seminaries 

• January 22, 1851: the legislature passed a 

bill authorizing establishment of two 

seminaries: one in the east and one in the 

west 

• Site selection committee for the east Florida 

institution recommended that it go in the 

county offering the greatest inducement

The East Florida Seminary 

• Established as a private 

seminary in Ocala in 1852 by 

Gilbert Dennis Kingsbury 

• First term began January 5, 

1852 

• 53 students opening day; 11 

more came later 

• Several small frame buildings 

• Committee appointed to raise 

$6,000 in subscriptions; came 

in slowly

• Kingsbury had minimal 

educational experience 

• Studied law but got no 

degree 

• Scandal regarding an 

"immoral relationship" 

between Kingsbury and 

music teacher Miss Anna 

Underwood 

• He denied it but his 

resignation was offered and 

accepted

The Trustees Offer the School to the State 

• Trustees of the Ocala school decided to offer it in 

exchange for state support 

• No other county made an offer 

• State support began with the signing of a bill by 

Florida Governor Thomas Brown on January 6, 

1853 

• The state received 16 lots in Ocala, some 

buildings, and cash 

• Kingsbury was named principal 

• There were 3 other teachers

The East Florida Seminary in Ocala 

• Subjects: reading, writing, arithmetic, 

natural philosophy, English grammar, 

geography, drawing, music, and Latin. 

• Seminary closed in December, 1853; 

reopened in 1854 

• Closed 1861-1865 for Civil War

When Was UF Founded? 

• The University of Florida dates it founding 

from 1853 with the founding of the East 

Florida Seminary

• In 2000, FSU decided 

to become 2 years 

older than UF by 

dating its founding to 

the signing of the 

legislation in 1851 

rather than the 1857 

opening of the actual 

Western Seminary 

When Was FSU Founded?

January, 1866: The Move to Gainesville 

• Prime mover: James 

Henry Roper, State 

Senator from Alachua 

County 

• Gainesville was 

established in 1854 

• Roper founded the 

Gainesville Academy, a 

private school on East 

University at Northeast 

First Street, in 1856 

• The Seminary moved to 

Gainesville a decade later

East Florida Seminary in Gainesville 

• The property was 

given to the State 

when it moved the 

East Florida Seminary 

to Gainesville 

• The site now has a city 

building; the former 

County Library


• Roper was principal for first two years here 

• Strict student rules: no alcohol, profane language, 

gambling, tobacco, etc. and only approved books 

could be read 

• Edward W. Meany principal 1868 

• Edward P. Cater principal 1877 had great impact 

– Tightened standards setting entrance age at 13 (later 

14) and all entrants had to pass examinations in the 

Third Reader and the Primary Arithmetic 

• By 1904 225 students; most from Alachua County

Epworth Hall: 19 th Century 

• 1883 fire destroyed the 

building and a new, brick 

one built 

• Now Epworth Hall of the 

First United Methodist 

Church 

• Red brick building they 

may have seen at the 

Spring Arts Festival 

• 1886 dormitory built

Epworth Hall Today


• Operated as a military 

school for its male 

students 

• Library organized 

1884 with a gift of 

Gibbon's "Decline and 

Fall of the Roman 

Empire" and 4 other 

books 

Graduating Class, 1906


• First college 

curriculum 

organized in 1878 

• 1882 three 

collegiate degrees 

awarded 

• A total of 112 

graduates through 

1905 

EFS Drill Team, 

Early Gatorettes?

Men’s 

Football 

Women’s 

Basketball 

Team

The Florida Agricultural College: 

Another Progenitor of UF 

• Morrill Land Grant Act made Florida eligible for 

90,000 acres, but Federal land not available 

• College incorporated 1872 

• Alachua County offered 10,000 acres of land and 

$50,000 cash 

• Trustees could not raise the money so the College 

went to Eau Gallie, on the Indian River

The Florida Agricultural College: 

Another Progenitor of UF 

• Buildings completed in 1875, but College never 

opened 

• 1876 election the Democrats replaced the 

Republicans and decided to cancel all that they 

had done 

• 1883 offers from Lake City, Gainesville, Live 

Oak, Tallahassee, and Madison 

• Lake City chosen 

• February 21, 1884 first building dedicated

Florida Agriculture College Campus, Lake City

Florida Agricultural College 

• Coeducational and had 

women on the faculty 

• 1884-1904 awarded 99 

undergraduate 

degrees, 17 to women 

• Library developed 

gradually; by 1900 

about 1,000 books 

1899 FAC Football Team


Classroom 

1901 Graduating 

Class


Women’s Basketball Team 

1903 Freshmen

Florida Agricultural College ->UF 

• 1903 the name was 

changed to the 


• Thomas H. Taliaferro 

President 1901-1904 

– Resigned with several 

scandals and pressures 

brewing

University of Florida, Lake City 

1906: UF’s 1 st 

Graduating Class 

(Lake City) 

Andrew Sledd of Southern 

College, Greensboro, AL 

became the new President 

in 1904

The Buckman Act 

• 1905 State of Florida passed the 

Buckman Act 

• Buckman was a member of the 

House from Jacksonville 

• The State had been providing 

support for 8 institutions 

• The idea was that there were too 

many colleges and there was too 

much duplication of effort 

• This would lead to the founding of 

UF in Gainesville


• Abolished all existing white institutions 

• Reorganized the Florida Normal and Industrial 

College for Negroes 

• Reorganized The Institute for Blind, Deaf, and 

Dumb 

• Founded the University of the State of Florida 

for male students 

• Founded the Florida Female College 

• A five-member Board of Control was to be 

appointed by the Governor 

• Locations of the schools were to be arranged


• Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward signed the act 

into law June 5, 1905 

• June 21 a Board of Control was appointed 

• Gainesville and Lake City were the two main 

contenders for the University 

– Both offered property and cash 

– Gainesville offered $70,000 cash plus 517 acres with room 

to grow 

• July 6 it was announced that the Female College 

would be in Tallahassee (unanimous) and the 

University in Gainesville (6-4 vote) 

• Gainesville celebrated with church bells, firecrackers, 

and a torchlight parade

The Move to Gainesville 

• The Lake City campus 

was used for the 1905-06 

term because of the poor 

state of the Gainesville 

buildings 

• Lake City filed two 

injunctions to block 

anyone from moving 

fixtures, furnishings, etc. 

to Gainesville 

• Threats to shoot the first 

man to drive a wagon out 

of Lake City

Mayor Thomas Emerged as a Hero 

• A campus plan called 

for the construction of 

44 buildings 

• Lake City tried to stop 

the shipment of books, 

equipment, etc. to 

Gainesville 

• No Lake City workers 

would help in the 

move 

Mayor W.R. Thomas

Coming to Gainesville 

• Albert A. Murphree 

became President of 

the Florida Female 

College 

• Andrew Sledd 

became the first 

President of the new 


• Andrew Sledd decided 

he would drive the 

first wagon from Lake 

City

President Andrew Sledd 

• Resigned from Emory 

College after a furor over an 

Atlantic Monthly article he 

published on “The Negro: 

Another View” in which he 

argued that “negroes” were 

not inferior to whites but 

rather victims of the 

environment 

• Burned in effigy in a town 

near Atlanta and talk of tar 

and feathering Sledd

UF, Gainesville Opens 

• September 26, 1906 the first 

classes were held in 

Gainesville; formal dedication 

the next day; never more than 

102 male students that year, 

including 38 "sub-freshman“ 

• Tuition free for Florida 

residents; $20/year for nonresidents; 

residing in dorms 

cost $2.50 per month and 

meals in the dorms were 

$12.50 per year 

Mayor Thomas’s 

Welcome

October 19, 

1906 school 

paper, The 

University News, 

was begun 

Twice a month 

for $1 per year 

Became the 

Florida Alligator 

in 1912

The 25 th Anniversary Celebration 

• The University 

celebrated its 25 th 

anniversary in 

1931. 

• Perhaps 1905 or 

1906 now makes 

sense as a date for 

the founding of UF

UF Football Was Popular Early

Albert A. Murphree 1909-1927 

• Sledd forced out and 

replaced by Albert A. 

Murphree July 1, 1909 

• Under Murphree there 

was a period of great 

growth

Murphree: A Campus Landmark

UF Campus, 1916 

Engineer. 

Peabody 

Gym 

Law 

Bldg. 

Language Hall 

(Anderson) 

Science Hall 

(Flint)

Early Development of UF in Gainesville 

• 1910 organized into four colleges: Arts & 

Sciences, Agriculture, Engineering, and Law. 

• 1914 Natural History Museum 

• Dueling professors 

– July, 1918 2 professors asked the Florida Alligator to 

retract statements that the 2 believed in Darwin’s theory 

of evolution 

– The editors did not print a retraction and the professors 

challenged them to a duel; the professors never showed 

up

Giants in Gainesville 

• 1918 New 

auditoriumgymnasium 

built, 

but they ran out of 

money 

• Got the New York 

baseball Giants to 

train here and kick 

in some money

1919 Scrapbook: Benton Hall, Bryan Hall, Gym, Anderson Hall

Campus, 1926

1932 

Campus 

Map

Development of UF 

• 1924 School of Pharmacy 

• 1925 School of 

Architecture 

• 1925 first woman enrolls 

as the Legislature 

determined that women of 

“mature age” could enroll 

• President Murphree died 

suddenly in his sleep 

December 20, 1927 

Lassie Goodbread-Black

President Tigert 

• John J. Tigert took over as 

President September, 1928 

– 2,162 students in 1928 

• 1930 Graduate School 

formally established.1934, the 

first 2 PhDs were awarded 

• 1947 UF and FSU go coed

1948 Campus Map 

Note the “Flavet” villages

Flavet Village 

was built on 

campus to 

house 

returning 

veterans

The 1960s: A Time of Protest

1990s and 2000s: Athletic Success

Presidents 

• Andrew Sledd 1906-1909 

• Albert A. Murphree 1909-1927 

• John J. Tigert 1928-1947 

• J. Hillis Miller 1947-1953 

• J. Wayne Reitz 1955-1967 

• Stephen C. O’Connell 1967-1973 

• Robert Q. Marston 1974-1984 

• Marshall M. Criser 1984-1989 

• John V. Lombardi 1990-1999 

• Charles Young 1999-2004 

• James Bernard Machen 2004-

The New Logo 

• In 2006, President 

Machen 

appropriated the 

old logo for the 

excusive use of the 

President’s office 

• Consultants were 

paid to develop a 

new logo (at left)

A History of Psychology at UF 

• A useful, if flawed, 

document

• The first catalog for 

the University of the 

State of Florida in 

Gainesville was that 

for 1905-06. It shows 

a course Pedagogy I- 

Psychology taught by 

W. F. Yocum, 

Professor of Education 

The First Course

The First UF Psychology Course 

• Note that a prescribed 

textbook might be 

used but Ladd’s 

philosophically 

oriented book would 

be consulted.

President Sledd Takes Over 

• The next catalog, 1906-07 

shifts the course to the 

Philosophy Department as 

Philosophy I- Psychology. 

It was taught by the 

President of the 

University, Andrew Sledd, 

who served also as an 

Acting Professor of 

Philosophy.

President Sledd’s Philosophy I 

• The catalog shows that books 

used were Titchener’s Outline of 

Psychology and James’s Briefer 

Course during the first semester 

and Lloyd Morgan’s 

Comparative Psychology and 

portions of Wundt’s Human and 

Animal Psychology and Ladd’s 

Physiological Psychology in the 

second. That remained stable for 

three years

1909-10: Professor Thackston 

• In the 1909-10 catalog, the 

5 th , Philosophy I is shown 

as being taught by John A. 

Thackston, Professor of 

Philosophy and Education 

& the first Dean of the 

College of Education 

(1913-1916). 

• Angell’s 1908 Psychology 

was used in the first 

semester and Ross’s 

Social Psychology and 

King’s Rational Living 

were used during the 

second semester.

Hasse Enwall Arrives 

• The catalog for 1920-21 

heralds the arrival of as the 

new head of the “Department 

of Philosophy and 

Psychology” and provides a 

one-page sketch of Dr. Enwall 

• After an interesting early life, 

he got his PhD at Boston 

Univ. & then worked with 

Angell & Carr at Chicago

The UF Psychology Laboratory 

• It is not clear when 

the 1 st laboratory 

was founded 

• The laboratory 

described on p. 27 

of the 1920-21 

catalog occupied 

six rooms on the 

first floor of 

Peabody Hall

• FSU probably 

preceded UF with a 

laboratory 

• Theirs was functional 

in 1902

UF Psychology 1928-29 

• The catalog for 1928-29 shows a three-person Department of 

Philosophy, Hasse Enwall, Elmer Hinckley, and Osborne Williams 

• Courses taught included 

– 201-0201 General Psychology (Hinckley, Williams) 

– 203 Elementary Experimental Psychology (Williams) 

– 204 Experimental Psychology (Williams) 

– 206-0206 Business Psychology (Hinckley) 

– 305 Social Psychology (Williams) 

– 306 Abnormal Psychology (Enwall) 

– 308 Comparative Psychology (Williams) 

– 310 History of Psychology (Williams) 

– 405 Psychological Tests (Hinckley) 

– 406 Theory of Psychological Measurement (Hinckley) 

– 501(502) Advanced Experimental Psychology (Hinckley) 

– 503 Theories of Personality (Hinckley).

1928-29: The Last Catalog of the Joint Dept.

1928-29: The Last Catalog of the Joint Dept.

1930-31: The Psychology Dept. Arrives

Elmer D. Hinckley (1903-1989) 

• Founding Chair of the UF 

Dept. of Psychology 

• Born January 11, 1903, 

Delaware County, New York 

• Public schools in Jacksonville 

• AB University of Florida 1924, 

major in mathematics 

• 1923 was one of the founders 

of Florida Blue Key and served 

as the founding Vice President

A Good Deal 

• Hinckley went to the University of Chicago for 

graduate school 

• The understanding among President Murphree, 

Dr. Hasse N. Enwall, chair of the Philosophy 

Department, and Hinckley that if he earned the 

PhD and returned there would be a Department of 

Psychology founded with Hinckley as chair 

• Dean James N. Anderson of the College of Arts 

and Sciences was more reluctant to try a new 

department under a young and inexperienced hand

Hinckley Earns His PhD 

• Hinckley worked primarily with Harvey A. Carr & 

L. L. Thurstone at Chicago 

• 1925 worked at the Merrill Palmer School in 

Detroit and on the Merrill Palmer Test in Detroit 

for a year 

• 1926 returned to Florida to work on PhD 

requirements for Chicago 

• 1929 Hinckley's PhD conferred by the University 

of Chicago 

• Hinckley served one year in the Philosophy 

Department under Enwall

The Psychology Dept. is Born 

• 1930 the separate department was budded off from 

the Philosophy Department with no great fanfare 

• Announced in a few lines of the Alligator January 

17, 1931 

• The two members of the new Department already 

were on the staff 

• The two departments co-existed next to each 

other, in the same offices, and with no budget 

increases 

– Note: This did not happen at Harvard until 1932

The Florida Alligator, January 17, 1931

Elmer Hinckley’s Career 

• Taught courses in Personality 

Theories and the Dynamics of 

Adjustment, Abnormal Psychology, 

Motivation, Sensation and Perception, 

Learning, and many applied and 

clinical areas 

• 1930s and 1940s organized the State 

Merit system for State employees 

• Director of the first Psychological 

Clinic in the State 

• Chairman of the first graduate 

supervisory committee (Masters) and 

Doctoral committee

Elmer Hinckley 

• First permanent 

President of the 

Florida Psychological 

Association 

• Publications 

– Only 7 in PsycInfo 

dealing with attitudes 

and judgments

Bureau of Vocational Guidance 

and Mental Hygiene 

• November, 1931: Legislature established a Bureau of 

Vocational Guidance and Mental Hygiene on UF 

campus as an adjunct to the Psychology Department 

with Hinckley as Director 

• First such clinic in the South 

• Important part of the Department during these years 

• Much testing and student counseling 

• When a new agency took over its functions in 1959, 

there had been over 5,000 cases handled

Elmer D. Hinckley (1903-1989) 

• Chair for 27 years, 

until 1957

Psychology & Most of the Arts & Sciences 

Departments were in Peabody Hall

Other Faculty Members: Osborne 

Williams (1888-1960) 

• Undergraduate degree Transylvania 

College, Lexington, KY 1913 

• PhD University of Chicago 1926 

• Florida Southern College one year 

• UF in 1927 in combined Department 

• Taught Experimental, Physiological 

and Comparative, History and 

Systems, and the Psychology of 

Exceptional children

Osborne Williams (1888-1960) 

• Served at the "Florida Farm 

Colony for the Feebleminded 

and Epileptic," later called the 

Sunland Training Center and 

now Tacachale as consulting 

psychologist 

• Retired as an Assistant 

Professor in 1960

A. C. Van Dusen 

• BS UF 1937 

• MA UF 1938 

• Assistant Professor UF 

• Published 1947 

American 

Psychologist abstract 

on leadership criteria

Charles I. Mosier (1910-1951) 

• Born June 11, 1910 

• Went from UF to the 

University of Chicago and 

returned here 

• Was on the faculty and 

also University Examiner 

• Published in the area of 

tests and measurements 

• 7 publications on 

psychometrics 

• Left in 1941 to aid in the 

war effort and died in 

Washington in 1951

• L-R 

Williams, 

Hinckley, 

VanDusen, 

Mosier 

1939 Faculty

• L-R: 

Mosier, 

Hinckley, 

Williams 

1940 Faculty

Stanley E. Wimberly (1915-1969) 

• AB 1938, MA 1939 UF 

• To Michigan for graduate school 

• Return to Florida 1941 

• 1944 PhD, Michigan 

• 1949 Assistant Dean, College of Arts & Sciences 

• 1965 Dean, College of Social and Behavioral 

Sciences, Florida Atlantic University 

• Acting Dept. Chair, 1957-58 

• 2 publications on test inventories 

• Died 1969 as Vice President FAU

Richard J. Anderson (1918-11/6/92) 

• BA 1940 Florida; MA 1943 Florida 

• 1944 graduate school Michigan 

• Returned to Florida 1946 

• Clinical work and taught General 

Psychology, Statistics, Testing, 

Personality, and History and Systems 

• PhD conferred 1950 

• Various projects: research in 

Guatemala; constructed the first series 

of 12 examinations for drivers' licenses 

in Florida 

• 14 publications on topics from the taste 

of water to school dropouts; 5 of them 

dealing with Wundt

World War II 

• UF the only male-only 

school in the state; 

enrollment drops from 

3,000 to 400 

• Could not increase female 

enrollment to compensate 

• Faculty decimated 

• Post-war enrollment shot 

up with no warning 

• February, 1946 to 6,500 

• Funds come in; much 

money from Veterans 

Administration support 

Returning veterans packed the 

campus as shown with these cars 

parked near Peabody Hall

After World War II 

• UF added faculty: Irving Stone, Kenneth 

Davenport, Robert Fisher, David Spelt, George 

Kisker 

• New faculty upset with events in Tallahassee and 

left en masse in 1947 

• 1947 the Tallahassee school became Florida State 

University and admitted men 

• Salaries were higher than here and that caused the 

strife 

• Legislature forbid outside consulting and other 

work by faculty

After the Faculty Departure 

• President Tigert was 

dismissed; succeeded 

by J. Hillis Miller 

• The Psychology 

department was back 

to a Hinckley, 

Williams, Wimberly, 

& Anderson 

Miller

Post-War Growth 

Gainesville VA Hospital 

• 1947 PhD program in 

psychology approved 

• VA money permitted 

hiring of office and 

clerical staff for the 

first time; Previously 

just a chairman with a 

typewriter

The Psychology Laboratory 

• Professor 

Wimberly 

conducts 

reaction-time 

tests in the 

Psychology 

Laboratory

New Faculty: Henry Wunderlich 

(1910-1958) 

• BA 1931, MA 1932, PhD 1937 Texas 

• Came here fall, 1947 

• Taught abnormal and Gestalt 

• Involved in the humanities; softer side of 

psychology 

• PsycInfo shows 4 studies dealing with esthetics 

and tonality 

• 1958 Wunderlich Room set up in Building E for 

informal contact between students & faculty

Dorothy Rethlingshafer (1900-1970) 

• BA Miami Ohio 1920 

• MA Chicago 1924 

• PhD North Carolina 1938 

• Came here Fall, 1947 

• One of the earlier female 

faculty appointments here; 

probably the first in the 

College of Arts & Sciences 

• Textbooks in motivation and 

comparative; 3 all together

Dorothy Rethlingshafer (1900-1970) 

• More publications than 

most on faculty 

• 29 publications in 

PsycInfo dealing mainly 

with motivation 

• Fellow of 2 APA 

divisions 

• Retired 1969 and died 

soon thereafter

The Building E Years (1948-1971) 

• Former Army barrack; 

temporary building from 

Camp Blanding in Bradford 

County 

• Psychology moved in in 1948 

• Now parking lot behind Tigert 

Hall 

• Got APA accreditation for 

Clinical program 

• Bureau of Vocational 

Guidance and Mental Hygiene 

became the Counseling Center 

in 1948

Building E 

Interior with Dept. 

Office in Rm. 109 

The site today

New Faculty: Justin E. Harlow, Jr. 

(1908-1962) 

• MA Pittsburgh, 1938 

• Came to UF in 1948 in clinical-counseling 

• Became Director of the Counseling Center 

• 1952 First UF Psychology PhD 

• Published on Wechsler test scores

E. Porter Horne (1912-1985) 

• 1938 PhD Iowa 

worked in Sensation 

and Perception 

• Came here from FSU 

in 1949 

• Retired 1976 

• Published 25 articles 

mainly on vision

More Faculty 

• Rolland Waters (1896-1970) 

– PhD Chicago, 1928; came in 1952 at the age of 56: 

comparative, physiological, and experimental 

psychology; retired to Arkansas 1964 

– Waters, Rethlingshafer and Caldwell text in 

comparative psychology, 1960 

– Published 59 articles cited in PsycInfo dealing 

mainly with learning in humans and animals 

• Albert K. Kurtz (1904- ) 

– PhD Ohio State 1930, worked in applied areas and 

psychometrics; Came in 1953, retired 1964

The First PhD 

• Justin Harlow 

became the 

department’s first 

PhD, although he was 

a faculty member & 

much of his work 

was at the University 

of Pittsburgh

Henry Gaydos & A. Cooper Price Became 

the First 2 Truly Home-Grown PhDs

Elizabeth Faulk: 1 st Woman PhD 

• 1950 MA thesis at UF: “Maze learning of 

Anolis carolinensis” (anoles) 

• 1955 PhD “The effects of certain tyrosine 

derivatives on maze performance and 

activity level of the white rat 

– E. P. Horne was the dissertation chair 

• Later worked as a clinical psychologist in 

private practice in Boca Raton, FL

• To be honest, this was a 

congenial group and good 

teachers but not a highpowered, 

researchoriented, 

grant-getting 

faculty for the new 

environment 

• Dean Ralph Page decided 

that this should change 

• Hinckley asked to step 

down 

Time for a Change 

Waters’ Letter of inquiry to W. B. Webb

1958, Wilse B. Webb: the 2 nd Chair 

• Born October 13, 1920 Yazoo 

City, Mississippi 

• BA LSU 1941 

• Iowa: Masters 1942; PhD 1947 

• War years worked with the US Air 

Force 

• Then faculty at Tennessee, 

Washington University in St. 

Louis 

• 1953-1958 Head, Aviation 

Psychology Laboratory Pensacola 

Naval Air Station

• 1969 retired as chair 

and became Graduate 

Research Professor 

• Poetry reader, poker 

player, jazz buff, etc. 

• 1989 retired from 

teaching 

• Webb Room named in 

his honor 

Wilse B. Webb

Various Faculty Added & Left 

• Malcolm Robertson, 

Herbert Kimmel, 

Bradford Bunnell, 

Joseph Dawson and 

others came but 

eventually left 

Brad Bunnell

Webb’s Over-Arching 

• The Psychology 

department should 

became a core, 

scientific base for 

psychology at UF and 

develop strong 

working relations with 

other units including 

business, education, 

medicine, biology, etc. 

Philosophy

Development of Department of 

• Health Center opened 

1956; first graduating 

class 1960 

• Webb felt that an Arts 

and Sciences Department 

could not properly 

support a clinic and run it 

in the proper setting; the 

Health Center was more 

appropriate 

• Now Clinical and Health 

Psychology 

Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology at UF 

• A Department of Psychological Services was 

developed beginning in 1959 in the College of 

Health Related Services (which became Health 

Related Professions in 1965, & then Public Health 

& Health Professions), within the Health Center 

complex 

• It was originated by Darryl Maze, Dean of that 

college, and Wilse B. Webb, of the Department of 

Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, 

which already had an APA-accredited training 

program in clinical psychology under the direction 

of James G. Dixon.


• In this unique arrangement the new department was 

located within the medical center complex but 

outside of the Medical School itself and thus free of 

dominance by physicians 

• All faculty members had joint appointments in the 

Department of Psychology. 

• In 1959 Joseph G. Dawson, Jr. was the first person 

hired into the program. He remained for just two 

years as the head of the Department of 

Psychological Services before leaving for 

Louisiana.


• Hugh C. Davis, a 1959 PhD from the University of 

Tennessee was added in March of 1960 

• Jacquelin R. Goldman, a 1962 PhD from the 

University of Illinois was added in 1961. 

• Vernon D. Van De Riet, a 1962 Florida State 

University PhD 

• William D. Wolking, a 1959 PhD from the 

University of Minnesota were added in 1962 

• Upon Dawson’s departure, Davis became acting 

head

Louis D. Cohen (1912-2000) 

• Louis D. Cohen joined the 

department as the new head 

(later chair) in 1963. 

• The name of the department was 

changed to the Department of 

Clinical Psychology the next 

year but the department 

remained primarily a service 

department.

Development of the Clinical Program 

• An internship program was 

accredited in 1954. The 

Department of Clinical 

Psychology first is listed as an 

academic department in the 

1970-71 catalog, according to 

which it offered courses “under 

the auspices of the Department 

of Psychology of the College of 

Arts and Sciences.”

Clinical Psychology Develops an 

• The Department of 

Clinical Psychology first 

is listed as an academic 

department in the 1970-71 

catalog, according to 

which it offered courses 

“under the auspices of the 

Department of Psychology 

of the College of Arts and 

Sciences.” 

Academic Program


• MA degree Columbia 

1936 

• Worked in prison 

systems of many years 

and then in service 

• 1949 PhD Duke 

• 1962 UF as Professor, 

Chair of Department 

of Clinical Psychology 

• Joint appointment in 

psychology


• Cohen translated his vision for an educational 

model for clinical psychology into a programmatic 

realization 

• He reshaped the program from a clinical service 

function into an academic department with 

research and service functions and broad 

relationships in both the medical complex and the 

community. 

• In the process, he more than doubled the faculty 

and increased related resources. The program 

evolved into first nationally accredited psychology 

program within a health center setting.

Cohen and the Department 

• The department also provided consultation and 

clinical services to a broad range of medical 

departments as well as to the public. 

• Cohen became one of the fathers of the 

community psychology approach which resulted 

in major changes in the mental health care of 

chronically ill patients. 

• Lou Cohen consistently championed the mental 

health care of the underprivileged, and the 

inclusion of all people in public mental health 

programs.

Nathan W. Perry, Jr. 

• Nathan W. Perry, Jr., a 1963 PhD from 

Florida State University joined the 

program in 1963 and Paul Satz, a 1963 

PhD from the University of Kentucky 

arrived in 1964. 

• The Department of Clinical 

Psychology assumed full 

responsibility for the academic 

program in clinical psychology and 

Perry replaced Cohen as the chair in 

1977.

Ronald Rozensky 

• Succeeded Nathan 

Perry as Chair 

June, 1998 

• 1974 Pittsburgh 

PhD 

• Much of career at 

Northwestern 

Medical School

Russell M. Bauer 

• Began as chair in 2006 

• Ph.D., 1979, Pennsylvania 

State University 

• Board-Certified in Clinical 

Neuropsychology ABPP; 

Fellow, Division 40 

(Clinical Neuropsychology), 

American Psychological 

Association

Counseling Center 

• Originally in University 

College under Hinckley and 

funded with money from the 

vice president for academic 

affairs 

• Overlapped with Student 

Health Services 

• Staffed entirely by clinical 

and counseling 

psychologists 

• Concentrated of 

psychological and 

vocational counseling 

Harry Grater, a mainstay

Student Health Service 

• 1957 Full-time mental health 

section developed and directed 

by psychiatrist Dr. Henry 

Schumacher, husband of our Dr. 

Audrey Schumacher 

• 1959 Began a series of grants 

from federal government to 

study students’ emotional needs 

as well as backgrounds, goals, 

interests, and patterns of 

adaptation 

• Located on two floors of a wing 

of the Student Health Service

Benjamin Barger 

• Benjamin Barger added to staff 

and became director in 1970 

• By 1973 had a staff of about 20 

with a director, 3 full-time 

psychiatrists, three 

psychologists, a social worker, 

and a psychiatric nurse 

• Barger viewed it as “the mental 

health conscience of the 

university”

New Faculty in Psychology: 

Audrey Schumacher 

• 1957 Audrey Schumacher 

(PhD, Western Reserve, 1942) 

to UF working in clinical 

psychology 

• 1958 moved into psychology 

department 

• Skilled clinician & mentor of 

many graduate students in 

clinical psychology

Sidney M. Jourard 

• 1958 Sidney M. Jourard 

(PhD, Buffalo, 1953) 

came as an Associate 

Research Professor in 

the college of Nursing 

• Brilliant & vibrant 

humanistic psychologist 

• Later moved into the 

Department 

• Died December 2, 1974

Marvin E. Shaw (1919-2007) 

• Marvin E. Shaw (PhD, 

1953, Wisconsin) 

arrived in 1959 

• Developed the 

program in social 

psychology

Henry S. Pennypacker 

• Henry Pennypacker 

(1962 Duke) came in 

1962 in experimental 

psychology 

• Began in classical 

conditioning 

• Then developed the 

Behavior Analysis 

program

• C. Michael Levy 

(Wisconsin, 1965) 

came in 1965 in what 

is now cognition 

C. Michael Levy

Donald A. Dewsbury 

• Donald A. Dewsbury 

(Michigan 1965) came in 

1966 in comparative 

psychology & later 

History of Psychology 

• Acting chair Spring 

quarter 1980

• Franz R. Epting (Ohio 

State 1967) came in 

1967 in personality 

and counseling 

Franz R. Epting

Molly Harrower (1906-1999) 

• Distinguished clinical 

psychologist 

• PhD 1934, Smith 

College 

• 1967 moved to the 

University of Florida

Edward F. Malagodi 

• Edward F. Malagodi 

(PhD Miami 1967) 

came in 1968 

• Behavior Analysis 

• Died 1996

Robert L. Isaacson 

• Robert L. Isaacson 

(Michigan 1958) came 

in 1968 in 

physiological 

psychology 

• Stayed 10 years

Intermezzo 

• Webb resigns as chair 

1969 

• 1969-70 Pennypacker 

Acting Chair 

• Pennypacker, Isaacson, 

Shaw troika ran the 

department

Robert C. Ziller 

• 1970 Bob Ziller (b. 

1924) arrives as the 

new Chair 

• Brief term ended in 

1971

1971-72 Marv Shaw Acting 

• A return to the 

Shaw, 

Pennypacker, 

Isaacson troika 

Chair

Toward a New Building 

Press Releases

1971: The Move to the New 

Building

A New Home of Psychology

The Meyer Years: (1972-1988) 

• Merle E. Meyer (1928-2005) 

• Born Minden, Nebraska 

• BA 1953 Central Washington 

State 

• University of Washington MS 

1956; 1963 PhD 

• Whitman College 1956-1966 

• Then Western Washington 

State and became Chair 

• UF Chair, 1972

• Many new staff 

additions 

• Revamped 

undergraduate 

curriculum to 

eliminate bottlenecks 

• Established programs 

in Counseling, 

Developmental, and 

Behavior Analysis 

The Meyer Years

1976/1977 the Clinical Program 

Split from the Psychology Dept. 

• A main problem was accountability 

• As the only doctoral program in the college, they had a 

problem in that the degrees were granted through the 

psychology dept. 

• There was a tug of war among departments and colleges 

with the result that the College of Health Related 

Professions took complete control of the CLP program 

and the Department of Psychology established a 

counseling program jointly with the College of 

Education; later entirely in psychology as regarded as 

too expensive for Education

Meyer stepped down as chair 

• This was the occasion 

for one of the largest 

gatherings in the 

department’s history 

• Held at the Florida 

Museum of Natural 

History 

Spring 1988

The Faculty, 1988

Faculty & Staff, 1988

The Sorkin Years 

• Robert D. Sorkin (b. 

1937)(PhD, Michigan, 1965) 

appointed chair Fall, 1988 

• B.S. electrical engineering 

1958 Carnegie Tech 

• 1965-1988 Purdue University 

• Helped bring technology to 

the dept. with greatly 

increased computerization and 

wiring of the building

The Dept. Gets an Advisory Committee

Graduate Student Awards 

Programs are Established 

Levitt Award, Begun 1991 Horne Award, Begun 1989 

There are now 11 Departmental awards

The Branch Years 

• Marc N. Branch, b. 1946, 

(PhD, 1972, Maryland) 

appointed chair, July 1, 

1995 

• Behavior Analysis 

• To UF 1973 

• Important new faculty 

recruited 

• 1995 study: Psychology 

dept. ranked in top 21% 

in US; Page’s program to 

develop the department 

clearly a success

Psychology Dept. Ranking 

• 1995 Chronicle of Higher Education 

• Ranked 38 th 

•Others 

– FSU Psychology 83.5 

– UF Neurosciences 60 

– UF History 40.5 

–UF Chemistry 30

2000-2007: Martin Heesacker as Chair 

• Martin Heesacker, b. 

1956 

• PhD 1983, Missouri 

• S. Illinois, 1983-86 

• Ohio State 1986-89 

• Counseling 

Psychologist 

• Became Chair in 2000 

• Strengthening ties to 

other departments and 

programs

Overview 

• Many of these trends not unique in psychology but 

common in many universities 

• The UF experience can be taken as a case study 

• Informal beginnings 

• A split from Philosophy 

• Increased specialization 

• Post World War II growth under the influence of 

growing population, NIMH, NSF, & VA

2000: 70 Years of the UF Psychology 

Department

Departmental History - University of Florida Department of Psychology

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