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IN MEMORIAM
NORMAN M. "JIM" PRENTICE
Norman "Jim" Prentice died June 4, 2000. He was born
February 25, 1925, in Yonkers, New York. Drafted into the army in World
War II, he was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the
Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
Jim earned an AB at Princeton University in 1949,
and then entered the clinical psychology program in the Department of
Social Relations at Harvard University. He received an MA in 1952 and
a PhD in 1956. He had trained as a child clinical psychologist. After
receiving his doctorate he became a clinical psychologist and fellow
in clinical psychology at Judge Baker Guidance Center, in Boston, which
was affiliated with Harvard Medical School. In the years that followed,
he became director of child clinical psychology at Harvard University
and published some of the first research in the field of learning disabilities.
In the mid 1960s, The University of Texas at Austin
hired Gardner Lindzey to chair its psychology department and redesign
its faculty. Professor Lindzey set the standard high, and recruited
the best faculty he could find; this included Norman Prentice. In 1965
Prentice became associate professor of child clinical psychology. He
held the same rank in the College of Education.
Lindzey, commenting on those times after learning
of Jim's death, wrote, "Naturally, I was delighted when Jim, and family,
decided to join us at UT. He contributed enormously to developing a
very strong graduate program in clinical psychology; but more than that,
he provided a norm of decency and human concern where that was not always
present. The single observation about Jim that stands out most vividly
in my mind is that in all those years of close association, I never
knew him to do an unkind thing. It pains me to think that perhaps his
greatest strengths (being gentle, forgiving, sympathetic, honest, and
supportive) may have led some others to underestimate his great contributions
to psychology and the lives of those around him. I miss him deeply."
Around 1970, Jim assumed the directorship of the clinical
psychology training program at the University. He also developed a part-time
private practice specializing in child therapy. He became a Fellow of
the American Psychological Association, a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology
(the highest recognition for clinical competence that can be achieved),
and a lifetime member of the American Orthopsychiatric Association,
serving for a number of years on its board.
Jim's lack of arrogance and pretence was universally
admired. Kevin McFarley, Jim's teaching assistant for two years, said
of him, "I think the most succinct example of his lack of pretentiousness
was the way he introduced himself to each new class of undergraduate
students. This august senior professor of both the Department of Psychology
and the College of Education would stand in front of all these 18 and
19 year olds and say, 'Hello, I'm Mrs. Prentice's boy Norman.' I enjoyed
giving Jim a big introduction to each class and addressed him formally
as Full Professor Norman Prentice (he got a kick out of the 'full professor'
title), and the students listened respectfully when I recited the litany
of his Ivy League pedigree and many accomplishments. But there were
two aspects of his background that always elicited the most reaction
from the students. One was his research on the role of imaginary figures
in the lives of children —Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the
Easter Bunny. The students always remarked that they thought that was
'really cool.' They were right, it was really cool. The students sat
up at attention when I told them that, in addition to being an Ivy League
intellectual involved in esoteric research, Jim was also a decorated
American war hero. Jim's response was, 'A wounded veteran my boy, a
wounded veteran.' "
Jim left his mark on the world in many ways —
in the research he published, on the students he taught, and on
the people he treated as a psychologist. After seeing so much death
and nearly dying himself at a very impressionable age, Jim considered
every day of his life a gift. He just wanted to be kind and to help
people, and he did. He helped a lot of people, and he was very kind.
One could not know him without being struck by his non-competitive
nature. That is not a quality that one sees in today's academic
climate of blind ambition and one-upsmanship. Maybe Jim's war experience
was why he didn't feel the need to compete and best other people,
or maybe it was just that Mrs. Prentice raised her boy Norman right.
Either way, Jim Prentice was a unique personality whose like will
not be seen in this department again.
<signed>
Larry R. Faulkner, President
The University of Texas at Austin
<signed>
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
This memorial resolution was prepared by a special
committee consisting of Associate Professors Caryn L. Carlson (chair)
and Marc Lewis, and Drs. James Bieri and Kevin McFarley.
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