In December 1996, Dr. Sidney W. and Janet R. Bijou funded a substantial endowment to SABA to support doctoral students studying child development from a behavior analytic perspective. The resulting Sidney W. and Janet R. Bijou Grant Program provides annual research grants, the first of which was awarded in 1998. In 2003, Dr. Bijou made a second donation.

Click here for information on the Sidney W. and Janet R. Bijou Grant application process.

Thanks to generous donations from ABAI members, the Sidney W. and Janet R. Bijou Endowment has reached its goal and is not open for donations.

About Dr. Sidney and Janet Bijou

Dr. Sidney Bijou was known for training many outstanding behavior analysts, for significant contributions to research and developmental theory, and for his advocacy of the international development of the field, among other accomplishments. A graduate of the University of Florida (BA, 1933), Columbia University (MA, 1937), and the University of Iowa (Ph.D., 1941), Dr. Bijou studied children’s learning development from a behavioral perspective, using behavioral principles to treat mild psychological problems and demonstrating that those principles could be applied to teaching young children with developmental disabilities. He published Behavior Analysis of Child Development with Donald M. Baer in 1961. This book was revised twice and is still used in university courses.

Dr. Bijou was president of ABAI and of the Division of Child Development of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was  honored by APA, ABAI, the National Association for Retarded Citizens (now called The Arc), and several universities. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, which was an APA publication. Dr. Bijou also served in the Air Force for three years during World War II.

The Bijous were married in 1934 and had two children. Janet Bijou worked as a special education teacher while Sidney completed his studies at Columbia University. She continued her work with children, and later established a remedial reading program and preschool when they lived in Seattle. Janet also worked for the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing as an international representative. Janet Bijou died in December 2000. Dr. Sidney Bijou died in June 2009 at the age of 100. The Bijous’ generous SABA endowment is testimony to their interest in ensuring that all children have the chance to reach their full potential.