Frances Degen Horowitz (May 5, 1932 – March 15, 2021) was an American developmental psychologist who served as President of the Graduate Center, City University of New York from 1991 to 2005. She was instrumental in raising the stature of the institution and moving it to its current location in the

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of New York City. Horowitz served as president of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) from 1977 to 1978. She served as president of the

American Psychological Foundation The American Psychological Foundation (abbreviated APF) is an American philanthropic organization dedicating to awarding research grants to psychologists in the early stages of their careers. It is affiliated with the American Psychological Assoc ...

from 1991 to 1994 and as president of the

Society for Research in Child Development The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) is a professional society for the field of human development, focusing specifically on child development. It is a multidisciplinary, not-for-profit, professional association with a membership ...

from 1997 to 1999. Horowitz was known for her research and teaching around the world, particularly in

infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used t ...

behavior and development. She authored more than 120 articles, chapters, monographs, and books on the subjects of infant development, early childhood development, high-risk infants, the gifted, and theories of development.

Biography

Frances Degen was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. She met her future husband, Floyd Ross Horowitz, when she was 11 years old. They married in 1953 and had two sons together. Horowitz completed a bachelor's degree in philosophy at

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was i ...

in 1954. She obtained a master's degree in elementary education at

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/ ...

, also in 1954. After working as a public school teacher in

Iowa City Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

, she returned to school to pursue a doctorate in developmental psychology, graduating from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

in 1959. She completed her dissertation, titled ''The incentive value of social stimuli for preschool children'', under the supervision of

Boyd R. McCandless Boyd may refer to: Places Canada * Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario * Boyd Lake (disambiguation) United States * Boyd County (disambiguation) * Boyd, Indiana * Boyd, Iowa * Boyd, Kansas * Boyd ...

at the

Iowa Child Welfare Research Station The Iowa Child Welfare Research Station attached to the University of Iowa conducted pioneering research into child development and child psychology during the 20th century. German-American psychologist Kurt Zadek Lewin worked there and Robert Ri ...

. Horowitz was an assistant professor at

Southern Oregon College Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

from 1959 to 1961 before joining the faculty of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. She served as Founder and Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Life from 1968 to 1978, and as Vice Chancellor for Research, Graduate Studies and Public Service at the University of Kansas from 1978 to 1991.

Honors and awards

Horowitz was a member of

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

, as well as a fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

. She held a fellowship at the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social an ...

from 1983 to 1984. She was elected a fellow of the

American Association for Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

in 1994, the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

in 2000, and a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

in 2004. She was named Chair of the Antioch College Board of Trustees in 2012. Horowitz received the Outstanding Educator of America Award in 1973. She was awarded the Distinguished Psychologist in Management Award from the

Society of Psychologists in Leadership A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

in 1993. She was named an Alumni Fellow of the University of Iowa in 2005.

Books

* Horowitz, F. D. (1975). ''Visual attention, auditory stimulation, and language discrimination in young infants''. University of Chicago Press. *Horowitz, F. D. (Ed.) (1978). ''Early developmental hazards: Predictors and precautions''. Routledge. *Horowitz, F. D. (1987). ''Exploring developmental theories: Toward a structural/behavioral model of development''. Psychology Press. * Horowitz, F. D., Subotnik, R. F., & Matthews, D. J. (Eds.). (2009). ''The development of giftedness and talent across the life span.'' American Psychological Association.

Representative papers

* Colombo, J., & Horowitz, F. D. (1987). Behavioral state as a lead variable in neonatal research. ''Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33''(4), 423–437. * Horowitz, F. D. (1974). Infant attention and discrimination: Methodological and substantive issues. ''Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development'', ''39''(5-6), 1–15. * Horowitz, F. D. (1987). A developmental view of giftedness. ''Gifted Child Quarterly'', ''31''(4), 165–168. * Horowitz, F. D. (1989). Using developmental theory to guide the search for the effects of biological risk factors on the development of children. ''The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition'', ''50''(3), 589–597. * Horowitz, F. D. (2000). Child development and the PITS: Simple questions, complex answers, and developmental theory. ''Child Development'', ''71''(1), 1–10. * Nelson, C. A., & Horowitz, F. D. (1983). The perception of facial expressions and stimulus motion by two-and five-month-old infants using holographic stimuli. ''Child Development'', ''54''(4), 868–877.

References

External links

Towards 2044: Horowitz Early Career Scholar Program
of the Society for Research in Child Development {{DEFAULTSORT:Horowitz, Frances Degen 1932 births 2021 deaths American women psychologists Jewish American academics American developmental psychologists Antioch College alumni Goucher College alumni University of Iowa alumni Graduate Center, CUNY faculty University of Kansas faculty Fellows of the American Psychological Association Fellows of the Association for Psychological Science Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American women academics 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women