Professor Emerita of Psychology
About
My research interests include life span development; cognitive development throughout adulthood; potential in later life; and social, attitudinal, and health influences on cognition. I am also interested in twins and what they teach us about identity, relationships, genes, and environment.
Marion Perlmutter, Ph.D., professor of psychology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, retired from active faculty status on December 31, 2019.
Professor Perlmutter received her B.A. degree from Syracuse University in 1970, her M.S. degree from the State University of New York-Albany in 1971, and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1976. Professor Perlmutter began her career at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development in 1976. She joined the University of Michigan faculty as a professor of psychology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and research scientist in the Institute of Gerontology and the Center for Human Growth and Development in 1985.
Professor Perlmutter was among the first scholars to explore both child development and adult aging, and to address issues of both growth and decline across the lifespan. She contributed in important ways to understanding cognitive aging, which was among the most critical and fast developing fields in adult development and aging. Her work provided an important base for current research priorities, including interventions of declines and antecedents of improvements in late life. She published many scholarly articles in premier journals focusing on development and on aging, as well as scholarly books on both ends of the life span. Her career was also devoted to teaching psychology. Over the last decade, Professor Perlmutter taught introductory psychology to many thousands of undergraduates. She developed one of the first undergraduate courses in adult development and aging as well as a first-year seminar on twins and what they can teach us about identity, relationships, genes, and environment. Consistent with her commitment to teaching, Professor Perlmutter authored several important undergraduate textbooks, including Child Psychology Today (2nd edition, 1986), Adult Development and Aging (1985), and Life Long Development (1988).
The Regents now salute this distinguished teacher and researcher by naming Marion Perlmutter, professor emerita of psychology.
