Dr. Douglas Jackson

A long-time Western Professor of Psychology Douglas N. Jackson passed away in his home at the age of 75. He was born on August 14, 1929, in Merrick, New York. He completed his undergraduate work at Cornell University in Industrial and Labor Relations, and his Ph.D. at Purdue University in clinical psychology. A world authority in the area of Human Assessment, he held faculty appointments at the Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, The University of Iowa, and for over 32 years at the University of Western Ontario, where he founded and directed the Research Unit on Work and Productivity.

Dr. Jackson devoted much of his life to the research and development of psychological tests in personality, psychopathology, intellectual abilities, and vocational interests. In addition to authoring over 20 widely used tests and questionnaires, he published roughly 250 articles in scholarly journals, several dozen book chapters, and co-edited two books. He also served on the editorial boards of approximately 23 psychological journals.

His theoretical bases and methods for developing psychological tests have been influential in setting the standard for psychological tests in the latter half of the 20th century. The Personality Research Form authored by Jackson has been acknowledged as one of the three most widely cited personality questionnaires in the psychological research literature.

His work has many applications, for example, the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS.com) has influenced the career planning of nearly a million people, while his cognitive ability measure, the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) has been used by NASA in the selection of astronauts. Several of his assessments have important applications for employee selection, and for the leadership development of managers and executives. The companies he founded, Research Psychologists Press, Inc. (Canada) and Sigma Assessment Systems, Inc. (U.S.A.) distribute these instruments to universities and businesses throughout the world.

Douglas Jackson’s memory can be honored by making a contribution to the University of Western Ontario

Douglas N. Jackson Scholarship Fund
Room 270 Stevenson-Lawson Building
London Ontario, Canada
N6A 5B8

*Taken from Western Alumni Gazette 2007.