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Jack Kostyo
Jack Kostyo, professor emeritus in internal medicine, dedicated his life to improving medical education and helping people with diabetes and growth problems. He died Aug. 17, 2007 in Berkeley, Calif. She has the distinction of being the first woman to be appointed as a professor in the College of Engineering at the University.
Many of her former students, and people both within and outside the University community, have fond memories of Sherman, and she will be sorely missed, says former colleague, Martin Sichel, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering.
Sherman was died Sept. 30, 2007 in Ann Arbor. He was 77.
Veroff directed a landmark study tracing how American values, attitudes and behavior changed from 1957-76. His research provided some of the first empirical data showing how American values, behavior and attitudes toward work, marriage and parenthood shifted during the '60s, a critical time for the nation. With Elizabeth Douvan and Richard Kulka, Veroff co-authored two influential books based on findings from two nationally representative ISR surveys on these topics: "The Inner American: A Self-Portrait from 1957 to 1976" and "Mental Health in America: Patterns of Help-Seeking from 1957 to 1976." This work replicated and extended the landmark study from the 1950s with Gerald Gurin and Sheila Feld: "Americans View Their Mental Health."
Veroff co-authored several other books, including "Marital Instability: A Social and Behavioral Study of the Early Years," with Douvan and Shirley Hatchett, and "Thrice Told Tales: Married Couples Tell Their Stories," with Diane Homberg and Terri Orbuch. These volumes are based on data from the ISR Early Years of Marriage Project, initiated in 1986.
"His early work on human motivation - for example in his book with his wife Joanne Veroff on 'Social Incentives: A Lifespan Developmental Approach' - stimulated decades of research in personality psychology," says David Winter, a colleague in psychology. "At the same time, he was always careful to understand individual personality in broader American social contexts, including age, race, class and gender."
In his last book, "Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience," written with Fred Bryant of Loyola University of Chicago, Veroff focused explicitly on measuring and studying the "capacity to attend to, appreciate and enhance the positive experiences in one's life."
With Douvan, Veroff was a founding member of the Family and Sex Roles Program (later the Life Course Development Program) at ISR.
He made significant contributions to the Department of Psychology, serving as graduate chair for many years. He taught and mentored generations of young scholars with a combination of high intellectual standards, clear expectations of hard work, research, a wry and clever sense of humor, and good food. "It is hard to pass the old Veroff house on Granger without thinking of the many casual get-togethers for faculty and students, replete with wonderful home-cooked dishes, engaging conversation and good company that he and Jody provided for scores of scholars over the years," said Toni Antonucci, the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology, director of the ISR Life Course Development Program and a former post-doctoral fellow.
Other colleagues remembered Veroff as a respected and beloved teacher and mentor, who pioneered in supporting, nurturing, and training the graduate education and career development of underrepresented groups in psychology. "I, and many other women who got their doctorates in psychology when women were still a small minority in the profession, had successful outcomes only by the good fortune of working with someone as respectful and encouraging as Joe Veroff," says Wendy House, a former student.
"Joe's capacity for collaboration was remarkable," says Abby Stewart, a psychologist who collaborated with Veroff on the marriage project. "He loved to bring students and colleagues together and exchange ideas. His research group was always lively, producing data analysis, good food and good company in equal parts. Joe's savoring of these pleasures was contagious."
Veroff received his bachelor's degree in 1950 at Wesleyan University and his master's and doctorate degrees at U-M.
He was an instructor at Princeton University in 1955-56, then returned to U-M as a study director at the ISR Survey Research Center. After serving as a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, he was promoted to assistant professor in 1958, associate professor in 1962 and professor in 1967. In 1975 he was named a faculty associate at ISR and in1985, he became an ISR research professor.
Veroff is survived by his wife Jody, children Susie, Matt, Dan, Paul and David, 10 grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Nov. 24 in 1324 East Hall.
The Joseph Veroff Graduate Support Fund has been established to benefit students in psychology and ISR. To make a contribution, contact the Department of Psychology at 615-0070.
Cheryl Johnson
Cheryl Johnson, a certified medical surgical nurse working in critical care, spent more than 30 years at the University of Michigan Hospital. Her dedication to the nursing industry, and leadership in the labor movement inspired both friends and colleagues, they say.
Johnson died Nov. 21, 2007 in Ann Arbor at the age of 90.
Freedman, who was the Roderick McKenzie Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, helped to shape the field of demography in the late in the 1940s when he advocated bringing a broader sociological perspective to the study of fertility and family planning. One of the first demographers to use sample surveys in his research, he also was among the first to ask women direct questions about their childbearing intentions and desires, and one of the first to recognize that desires and intentions often differed from actual behavior.
In a landmark 1959 volume, "Family Planning, Sterility, and Population Growth," co-authored with Pascal Whelpton and Arthur Campbell, Freedman analyzed data from the first U.S. national survey on fertility and related behaviors. His work helped show that childbearing and family planning are influenced by the values and norms of society as well as by the social and economic conditions of individual families. In the early 1960s, Freedman shifted his interest from the United States to the developing world, where he helped to design effective family planning programs in Taiwan and other countries.
"Ronald Freedman was one of the leading social scientists of the last half of the 20th Century," says sociologist Arland Thornton, director of the Population Studies Center.
Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Freedman grew up in Waukegan, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. He received a bachelor's degree in history and economics from U-M in 1939 and his master's degree in sociology from U-M in 1940. He went to the University of Chicago and completed prelims for his doctorate in sociology before joining the U.S. Army in 1942. He served in the Army Air Corps Weather Service, and four decades later, remarked, "When I talk about demography, I always apply what I learned as a weather forecaster - that is, don't look out the window when you're making a weather forecast. Short-run trends are not the significant thing."
In 1946 he resumed work on his dissertation, receiving the doctorate in 1947. He also joined the faculty at U-M, where he remained throughout his career. In 1951, Freedman and Angus Campbell established the Detroit Area Study. Envisioned as a "laboratory for social scientists," the study gave researchers and students an opportunity to design, collect and analyze data from the Detroit metro area. The study served as the basis for more than 400 articles and 20 books, and launched numerous careers.
In 1955 Freedman co-directed the Growth of American Families Survey, the first national scientific sample survey to include questions about fertility and family planning, and the precursor to the current U.S. National Survey of Family Growth. In 1960, the Population Council asked Freedman to collect similar data on fertility in a developing nation, and he began a series of surveys in Taiwan that provided invaluable information on fertility trends and their underlying social and economic dynamics. In 1961 he founded the Population Studies Center, now part of ISR.
Freedman received numerous awards and honors throughout his long career. Among them, he was elected President of the Population Association of America in 1964. In 1969 he received the Faculty Distinguished Service Award from U-M. In 1974 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received the Irene B. Taeuber Award in 1981 from the Population Association of America and the Office of Population Research. In 2002 he received the Laureate Award from the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in recognition of lifetime contributions to the advancement of population sciences and distinguished service.
Freedman's wife Deborah and his daughter Jane Davidson preceded him in death. He is survived by his companion Virginia Selin, son Joseph, daughter-in-law Maria, son-in-law Jeff Davidson, grandchildren Lily Davidson, Michael Davidson and Anna Freedman, brother Chuck (Lila), and many nieces and nephews.
Freedman's colleagues and family are planning a memorial service for the near future.
