CHALMERS, Douglas Kenrick

CHALMERS, Douglas Kenrick. (Dubuque, IA, Mar. 26, 1940--Aug. 6, 1993). Chalmers was a professor of psychology at the University of California-Irvine.

Chalmers attended public school and then Phillips Exeter Academy for the fourth through eleventh grades. He was admitted to the University of Iowa, where he spent the next seven years earning a Ph.D. in psychology. After a two-year postdoctoral stay at UC Berkeley, he came to UC Irvine in 1966 and remained here his entire academic career.

Trained in social psychology at the University of Iowa, Doug had research interests that included cognitive structures, social learning processes, attitude change, and person perception. As a postdoctoral student at Berkeley, however, he was influenced by Noam Chomsky's rationalist philosophy. His interest broadened to include psycholinguistics. Later, he became deeply involved in studies of addiction as a general phenomenon that includes more than just substance abuse.

As a teacher, he was most effective with graduate students who were struggling to find their way. On occasion he used group therapy and “hand-holding” if he thought it would help. Many of his most successful students felt that Chalmers personal support was as helpful as his intellectual instruction.

Doug was interested in many topics that had nothing to do with his professional advancement. Quantum mechanics and Zen Buddhism were two of his favorite areas of study. He wrote poetry and spiritual musings, such as the series on “Warrior Training”:

                “The warrior is a man of knowledge. He is a solitary bird 
                who flies to the highest point, does not suffer for company, 
                aims his beak to the skies, does not have a definite color, 
                and sings very softly.” 

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Source:

Calisphere, "Douglas Kenrick Chalmers," Online: http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb0h4n99rb&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00008&toc.depth=1&toc.id=