Melvin Manis, Ph.D., professor emeritus of psychology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts passed away on June 16, 2026 at the age of 95.
Professor Manis received his A.B. degree from Franklin and Marshall College in 1951 and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 1954. From 1954-58, he served first as a Public Health Service commissioned officer in Washington, D.C., and then as an instructor in the psychology department of the University of Pittsburgh. He came to Ann Arbor in 1958 as chief of the Psychology Research Section of the VA Medical Center, a position he held until 1989, and as a lecturer in the University of Michigan Department of Psychology. He was promoted to associate professor in 1961, received tenure in 1963, and was promoted to professor in 1966. He has also held visiting appointments at universities around the globe. Professor Manis, retired from active faculty status on December 31, 1997.
Professor Manis was one of the leading scholars in the psychology of attitudes and social judgment, publishing work of enduring impact. He made outstanding contributions to the understanding of human judgmental processes in two books, Cognitive Processes (1968) and An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (1971), as well as numerous chapters and more than sixty peer-reviewed articles. His outstanding reputation in the field was also reflected in his appointment as the first editor of the Attitudes and Social Cognition Section of the revamped Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1979-84), the flagship journal in personality and social psychology.
His work covered a wide range of judgmental phenomena. Most notable are his contributions with Monica Biernat about how standards of judgment shift depending on the stereotype applied to that person, in that people are compared to the expectations associated with that group. In other work with Jonathan Shedler and Martin Mayman, he argued that objective measures of mental illness often cannot distinguish between authentic mental health and the mere façade of it, leading to mistaken judgments in diagnosis. With a research team led by Oscar Ybarra, he showed that simple socializing with others improved general cognitive function.
Within the University, he served on the Senate Assembly, as associate chair and chair of graduate training within the psychology department, as well as area chair of the social psychology program, the personality program, and the joint program in social psychology in the departments of psychology and sociology.
His wife of 70 years, Jean, died in Ann Arbor in October, 2024. As we mourn the loss of our beloved colleague, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his sons Peter (Susan Richman) and David (Holly Kowitt), grandson Ben (Emily Resnik), great-grandson Avery, 12 nieces and nephews, and extended family.
