As a graduate student Dr. Jack Michael’s main interests were statistical methodology, physiological psychology, and learning theory. During his first teaching job (Kansas University) he was much influenced by B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior, and since then has been primarily involved in teaching behavioral psychology, at Kansas University, the University of Houston, Arizona State University, and, since 1967, at Western Michigan University (WMU), where is now professor emeritus. In 1957, as a result of influence by the rehabilitation psychologist Lee Meyerson, he began to apply Skinner's approach to mental retardation, mental illness, and physical disability. Over the next several years behavior modification was in a period of rapid expansion, and Dr. Michael contributed with his teaching, writing, and public presentations. Most recently he has been concerned with the technical terminology of behavior analysis, basic theory regarding motivation, and verbal behavior. He contributed to the founding of ABAI in 1974 and served as its president in 1979. He was WMU’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar in 1989.
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