Academic Genealogy

I believe that we stand on the shoulders of giants. Science is incremental, and we move it forward based upon what previous generations have provided. In this regard, it is important to honor those who have gone before. There are three fascinating trends in my academic lineage. First, it is possible to see how a focus on the physical (Helmholtz) gives way to an interest in the social. Second, we can see how a focus on groups of people transforms into the study of intrapsychic processes. Third, the project becomes increasingly psychoanalytic over time. It is particularly interesting to me that Franz Boaz is in my academic line. While he is open to modern criticism as the “father of anthropology,” it is interesting that I carry on a particular tradition of engaging with Indigenous Peoples.

John J. Cecero

John Cecero is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Jesuit priest.  He is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Fordham University.  Dr. Cecero was my dissertation mentor.  For many years, he and I collaborate on studies of psychological mindedness, the psychological obverse of the focus of his doctoral dissertation — alexithymia.  His dissertation mentor was James C. Miller at The George Washington University.     

James C. Miller

James Miller is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst.  He is the founding Director of the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology training program at George Washington University and has been closely affiliated with the Baltimore Washington Institute for Psychoanalysis.  Dr. Miller’s dissertation mentor was Irving Janus at Yale University.

Irving Janis (1918-1990)

Irving Janus was a social psychologist who was interested in group dynamics and decision-making.  He is widely known for investigating the concept of “groupthink.”  After completing his doctoral studies at Columbia University under the mentorship of Otto Klineberg, he assumed a faculty position in the Department of Psychology at Yale University.

Otto Klineberg (1899-1992)

Otto Klineberg was social psychologist who studied the relationship between race and IQ.  He gathered empirical evidence to debunk the fashionable and racist theory of “innate intelligence.”  His testimony was also instrumental to the Supreme Court’s (1954) Brown versus Board of Education ruling, which prompted desegregation.  He studied with Franz Boas at Columbia University.

Franz Boas (1858-1942)

Franz Boas earned a doctorate in physics at the University of Kiel before becoming known as the “father of American anthropology.”  He engaged in postdoctoral study with Hermann Von Helmholtz, the result of which was a study of the Inuit People of Baffin Island.    

Hermann Von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

Hermann Von Helmholtz trained as a physician and physiologist, earning his medical degree from Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität.  He is considered to be one of the founders of modern Psychology and made major contributions to a number of fields including ophthalmology, physics and psychophysics.