WOLFLE, Dael (Lee) 1906-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 5, 1906, in Puyallup, WA; died of congestive heart failure December 26, 2002, in Seattle, WA. Psychologist, administrator, educator, and author. Wolfle is best remembered for his service as longtime head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A graduate of the University of Washington, where he earned his master's degree in 1928, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1931. During the 1930s and 1940s he taught at several universities, including Ohio State, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Chicago; the years during World War II saw Wolfle as a civilian training administrator for electronics for the Army Signal Corps, and he also worked for the Office of Scientific Research and Development as a technical aide. Wolfle left academia in 1946 to become executive secretary of the American Psychological Association, followed by a position as director of the Commission on Human Resources and Advanced Training from 1950 to 1954. Wolfle was fascinated by the study of science, and so his next appointment, as executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was a perfect fit. He directed the AAAS until 1970 and was the editor of its journal, Science. In 1970 Wolfle returned to teaching, joining the faculty of the University of Washington as a professor of public affairs—policy issues were also a great interest of his—until his retirement in 1996. In addition to his teaching and administrative posts, Wolfle served on committees for the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Council on Education. He was also the author, coauthor, or editor of over a dozen books, including Science and Public Policy (1959), The Uses of Talent (1971), and Renewing a Scientific Society: The American Association for the Advancement of Science from World War II to 1970 (1989). Wolfle received several honors for his contributions, including two honorary degrees and, in 1979, the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus award from the University of Washington.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Seattle Times, January 3, 2003, p. B5.

Washington Post, January 10, 2002, p. B5.