Jack L. Michael
Western Michigan University
Dr. Jack Michael was professor of psychology at Western Michigan University (WMU) and held faculty appointments at some of the key academic centers of behavior analysis—University of Kansas, Arizona State University, and WMU—where he taught generations of leaders in the field. In recognition of this achievement, he received an award from APA for distinguished teaching. He has also been one of the field's conceptual leaders, contributing important papers on negative reinforcement, automatic reinforcement, verbal behavior, and establishing operations. His influence in the areas of verbal behavior and establishing operations was especially profound. The current emphasis on Skinnerian language instruction for individuals with autism is a direct result of Dr. Michael's work, and extensions of his writing on establishing operations have formed the basis of a new approach to therapeutic intervention. Although he did not conduct applied research, he directly or indirectly mentored more editors and associate editors of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis than any other individual.