Combs, A(rthur) W(right) 1912-1999

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COMBS, A(rthur) W(right) 1912-1999

PERSONAL:

Born June 3, 1912, in Newark, NJ; died March 21, 1999, in Greeley, CO; son of Arthur Wright (a veterinarian) and Charlotte (Vyse) Combs; married Mildred Janet Mitchell (a teacher), September 23, 1934 (divorced); married Susan Jane Kannel (a teacher), December 28, 1978 (some sources cite December 27, 1976); children: (first marriage) Carol Andrea Hole, Peter Arthur; (second marriage) Lynn Ann, Erin Elizabeth. Education: Attended Cornell University, 1930-33; Ohio State University, B.S. in Ed., 1935, M.A., 1941, Ph.D., 1945.

CAREER:

Teacher and school psychologist, Alliance, OH, 1935-41; Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, instructor, 1942-44, assistant professor, 1944-48, associate professor of psychology, beginning 1948, head of personal counseling service, 1943-53, director of clinical psychology, 1946-53; University of Florida, Gainesville, professor of education, 1953-76, director of new elementary program, 1967-70, chair of Department of Foundations of Education, 1968-70, director of Center for Humanistic Education, 1970-72; University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, distinguished professor and consultant in education and psychology, beginning 1976. American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology, diplomate; licensed psychologist in Colorado, beginning 1979; Community Counseling Associates, Greeley, partner, 1978-81. Joint Council of New York State Psychologists, chair, 1952; consultant to Veterans Adminstration, 1946-51, and to a number of schools.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Distinguished Service Award, New York State Psychological Association, 1957; Distinguished Research Award, American Personnel and Guidance Association, 1963; John Dewey Award for Distinguished Service to Contemporary Education, 1967; named Teacher-Scholar of the Year, 1970.

WRITINGS:

(With Snyder and others) Casebook of Non-Directive Counseling, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1947.

(With Donald Snygg) Individual Behavior: A New Frame of Reference for Psychology, Harper (New York, NY), 1949, revised edition published as Individual Behavior: A Perceptual Approach to Behavior, 1959, revised edition (with Anne Cohen Richards and Fred Richards) published as Perceptual Psychology: A Humanistic Approach to the Study of Persons, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1976.

(With others) Instructor's Handbook for NCO Human Relations Course, U.S. Air Force, 1954.

(Editor) Personality Theory and Counseling Practice, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 1961.

(Editor, with others) Perceiving, Behaving, Becoming: A New Focus for Education, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Alexandria, VA), 1962.

(With Daniel W. Soper) The Relationship of Child Perceptions to Achievement and Behavior in the Early School Years, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 1963.

The Professional Education of Teachers: A Perceptual View of Teacher Preparation, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1965, 2nd edition published as The Professional Education of Teachers: A Humanistic Approach to Teacher Preparation, 1974.

(With others) Florida Studies in the Helping Professions, University of Florida Press (Gainesville, FL), 1969.

(With Donald L. Avila and William W. Purkey) Helping Relationships: Basic Concepts for the Helping Professions, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1971, 4th edition, 1994.

(With Donald L. Avila and William W. Purkey) Helping Relationships Sourcebook, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1971, revised edition, 1977.

Educational Accountability: Beyond Behavioral Objectives, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Alexandria, VA), 1972.

(With H. Wass, R. Blum, and W. Hedges) Humanistic Teacher Education: An Experiment in Systematic Curriculum Innovation, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1974.

(With others) Humanistic Education: Objectives and Assessment, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Alexandria, VA), 1978.

Myths in Education: Beliefs that Hinder Progress and Their Alternatives, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1979.

A Personal Approach to Teaching: Beliefs that Make a Difference, Allyn & Bacon (Newton, MA), 1982.

(Editor, with Donald L. Avila) Perspectives on Helping Relationships and the Helping Professions: Past, Present, and Future, Allyn and Bacon (Boston, MA), 1985.

A Theory of Therapy: Guidelines for Counseling Practice, Sage Publications (Newbury Park, CA), 1989.

The Schools We Need: New Assumptions for Educational Reform, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1991.

(With Ann B. Miser and Kathryn S. Whitaker) On Becoming a School Leader: A Person-Centered Challenge, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Alexandria, VA), 1999.

Being and Becoming: A Field Approach to Psychology, Springer Publishing (New York, NY), 1999.

Author, with R. S. Fisk, of Human Relations Training for School Administrators, 1954. Author of cassette recordings for Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and for JAB Press, 1976. Contributor to books, including Outside Readings in Psychology, edited by E. L. Hartley and R. E. Hartley, Thomas Y. Crowell (New York, NY), 1957; Guidance Readings for Counselors, edited by Farwall and Peters, Rand McNally (Chicago, IL), 1960; On Your Own in College, edited by W. C. Resnick and D. H. Heller, Charles E. Merrill (Columbus, OH), 1963; The Self in Growth, Teaching, and Learning, edited by D. E. Hamachek, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1965; and Handbook of Research on Human Motivation, edited by J. J. Frymier, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), 1971. Contributor of more than 100 articles to psychology, social science, and education journals. Editor, Yearbook of Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1962.