Michael Wertheimer (psychologist)

Wertheimer was born on March 20, 1927, in Berlin, Germany. He emigrated to the United States with his family in September 1933 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in April 1939. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1947 with a BA in psychology with high honors. He received his MA from Johns Hopkins University in psychology in 1949 and his PhD in experimental psychology from Harvard University in 1952.[2]

Wertheimer first became a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1961, and he retained this title until his retirement in 1993.[2][1] He has served as president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. His awards have included American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award in 1983, the APA Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award in 1990, and the American Psychology Association’s (APA) Award for Outstanding Contributions to Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology in 2009.[3][4] He was inducted to PSI CHI International Honor Society for Psychology.

Wertheimer is the son of Max Wertheimer, one of the founders of Gestalt psychology.[5] His parents divorced when he was 15. Michael Wertheimer married Nancy MacKaye in 1950; they had three children together before their divorce in January 1965. He married Marilyn Schuman in September 1970.[2]

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