Professor Emeritus of Psychology
About
Robert G. Pachella, Ph.D., professor of psychology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, retired from active faculty status on May 31, 2017.
Professor Pachella received his B.S. (1966) degree from the University of Michigan and his M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1970) degrees from The Johns Hopkins University. He joined the University of Michigan faculty as an assistant professor in 1970, and was promoted to associate professor in 1974, and professor in 1979.
As a young researcher, Professor Pachella helped grow the new field of cognitive psychology. His rigorous empirical and theoretical investigations yielded numerous conceptual insights into the nature of human visual perception, short-term memory, and speed-accuracy tradeoffs in information-processing dynamics as reported through a lengthy series of high-profile journal articles and book chapters. A remarkable teacher and dedicated mentor, a number of his former doctoral students have achieved successful academic careers, served as department chairs at other leading institutions, or received prestigious honors, such as the Grawemeyer Award for Great Ideas in Education. Professor Pachella also became legendary for his undergraduate classes, including small honors seminars on topics such as law and psychology and larger lecture courses on topics such as perception, science, and reality. Furthermore, Professor Pachella was an accomplished administrator, directing the world-famous Michigan Human Performance Center for several years, serving on many psychology faculty committees, and participating in the LSA Honors Program as both an instructor and faculty advisor for several decades. For these contributions, he received the Distinguished Faculty Service Award (1974) and the Ruth M. Sinclair Award (1986).
The Regents now salute this distinguished faculty member by naming Robert G. Pachella, professor emeritus of psychology.
Field(s) of study
Cognitive psychology, human perception and performance. Forensic applications of cognitive psychology.
