Jack Michael, 94, passed away on November 12, 2020. He attended UCLA. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Jack was drafted into the Army in 1943. Upon discharge, he returned to UCLA where he switched his major from chemistry to psychology due to books he asked his mother to send him while he was a soldier. Jack's career in psychology began with a fascination of the writings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Jack earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from UCLA, finishing his studies in 1955.



Jack accepted a position teaching statistics at the University of Kansas, but he soon became interested in the teachings of B.F. Skinner. For the rest of his career, Jack was dedicated to promoting behavioral psychology. He later accepted teaching positions at the University of Houston and then ASU, known at the time as Fort Skinner in the Desert. With his reputation growing throughout the field of behavioral psychology, he was enticed to move to Kalamazoo and become part of the faculty at Western Michigan University in 1967.



Jack was one of the founders of the Association of Behavior Analysis International and served as its president in 1979. He received many awards for his achievements including the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award from WMU, teaching awards from the American Psychological Association and WMU's Alumni Association, and lifetime service awards from ABAI and the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. In 2012, Jack was the first recipient of an award named in his honor by the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group affiliated with ABAI.

In addition to being known for his work as an educator, Jack was a well-respected speaker and author. In 1959 he and his student, Ted Ayllon, published what many consider to be the first applied behavior analysis article in the field. He spent much of his academic career concerned with the technical terminology of behavior analysis, and basic theory regarding verbal behavior, and motivation. Over the years Jack taught generations of leaders in the field of behavior analysis. Jack retired from teaching in 2003 but continued to remain active in the field.



Jack is survived by his wife, Alyce. Cremation has taken place and a memorial will be held at a later date. (Source: ASU Foundation)