In Memory Of… George Miller
Honoring scientists who have made important and lasting contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
George Miller, PhD (1920-2012)
James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
Princeton University
Professor emeritus George Miller, PhD, a pioneer in cognitive science, was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Emeritus at Princeton University. An APA president in 1969, he has been an innovator in the study of language and cognition, helping to establish psycholinguistics as an independent field of research in psychology. He was a co-founder of the Harvard Center for Cognitive Studies in 1960 and helped to create the Princeton Cognitive Science Laboratory in 1986. His work in psycholinguistic theories led him to become the principal investigator in the development of WordNet, an online lexical database based at Princeton.
Many regard the research presented by Miller in The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information as the single most famous finding in cognitive psychology. In 2003, he also published The Cognitive Revolution: A Historical Perspective in “Trends in Cognitive Sciences,” which was also extremely well-received.
Miller, who taught at Princeton from 1979 to 1990, was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree by the University in 1996 for opening “the way to the mind’s new sciences of psycho-linguistics and cognitive psychology.” Miller received the National Medal of Science in 1991, the highest scientific honor awarded by the United States. In 2003 he was presented with the American Psychological Association’s 2003 Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award.
Individuals Honoring George Miller:
Thomas G. Bever, University of Arizona
Jerome S. Bruner, New York University
Michael B. Cantor, WayPoint Research, Inc
Susan E. Chipman
Martin S. Chodorow, Hunter College
Cognitive Neuroscience Institute
Michael Cole, University of California, San Diego
Sheila Cole
Claudia Dougherty
Christiane Fellbaum, Princeton University
* Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University
Joan Girgus, Princeton University
Sam Glucksberg, Princeton University
Alice F. Healy, University of Colorado at Boulder
William Hirst, The New School for Social Research
Philip N. Johnson-Laird, Princeton University
Steven J. Maiorano
Jacques Mehler, International School for Advanced Studies, Cognitive Neuroscience
Steven Pinker, Harvard University
Randee Tengi, Princeton University
Endel Tulving, Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest, Toronto
Pamela C. Wakefield, Princeton University
* The FABBS Foundation would like to thank Dr. Susan T. Fiske and Dr. Michael Gazzaniga for nominating Dr. Miller for this honor and for leading the effort to spread the word about his nomination.
