Expert On Imaginary Memories To
Present Inaugural Leibowitz Lecture, March 20
2-28-97
University Park, PA---Elizabeth F. Loftus, a cognitive psychologist who has specialized in the reliability of eyewitness testimony and repressed memories and has provided expert testimony in many high-profile legal cases will deliver the inaugural Herschel W. and Eileen Wirtshafter Leibowitz Lecture in Behavioral Sciences in the College of the Liberal Arts.
The lecture is about new studies that show the power of imagination to make people believe they have had experiences that they didn't have. The lecture will be at 112 Kern Building on Penn State's University Park Campus at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 20.
Dr. Loftus is Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Washington, Seattle. The lecture is named for Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus Herschel W. Leibowitz, a member of the faculty in the Department of Psychology since 1962, and his wife Eileen, who established an endowment for the lectureship in the College of the Liberal Arts. The public is invited to attend.
Professor Loftus received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. Since then, she has published eighteen books and over 300 scientific articles. Her fourth book, Eyewitness Testimony, won a National Media Award (Distinguished Contribution) from the American Psychological Foundation. Her most recent book, The Myth of Repressed Memory, co-authored with Katherine Ketcham, was published by St. Martin's Press and has already been translated into a number of foreign languages.
Loftus has been an expert witness or consultant in hundreds of cases, including the McMartin Preschool Molestation case, the Hillside Strangler, the Abscam cases, the trial of Oliver North, the trial of the officers accused in the Rodney King beating, the Menendez brothers, the Michael Jackson case, and the Oklahoma Bombing litigation. Also she has worked on numerous cases involving allegations of "repressed memories," such as those involving George Franklin of San Mateo, California; Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago; and Gary Ramona of Napa, California.
Loftus's research over the last 20 years has focused on human memory, eyewitness testimony and courtroom procedure. Her work has been consistently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation. In 1983, she was invited to present her work to the Royal Society of London.
She has received three honorary doctorates for her research, the first in 1982 from Miami University, Ohio, the second in 1990 from Leiden University in The Netherlands, and the third from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York--an honorary doctorate of laws.
She served as the 1984 President of the Western Psychological Association; as the 1985 President of the American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association (APA); and as the 1988 President of Division 3, Experimental, of the APA. In 1995 she was selected by the American Academy of Forensic Psychology to be the recipient of their Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology Award.
The Leibowitz Lectureship will present speakers on interdisciplinary topics in the behavioral sciences in recognition of Professor Leibowitz's distinguished contributions in psychology and Mrs. Leibowitz's long-standing commitment to development at Penn State.
Professor Leibowitz, whose work has focused on visual perception and the relationship between basic research and societal applications, has published more than 250 scientific works and has received much acclaim for his work, including the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award For the Application of Psychology, the Prentice Medal of the American Academy of Optometry, the van Essen Award from the Pennsylvania Optometric Association, and an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from the State University of New York.
Mrs. Leibowitz served for 10 years as a public member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Optometry.
Long involved in numerous community organizations, she currently serves on the Board of the Palmer Museum of Art, the Community Advisory Council of the Center for the Performing Arts, and the Hillel Foundation Development Committee. Professor and Mrs. Leibowitz jointly established the Leibowitz Scholarship for Outstanding Graduate Students in the Penn State Psychology Department and are members of The Mount Nittany Society.
Editors: Professor Loftus can be reached at (206)543-7184. For information
about the lecture contact S.M. Ranio at (814)865-1712.
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Contacts: Alan Janesch (814) 865-7517 (office) axj12@psu.edu
Christy Rambeau (814) 865-7517 (office) cmr7@psu.edu