Roy F. Baumeister

Tributes

• Roy deserves this wall and many many others! His work leaves me trembling with excitement every time I read it. He has had more impact on my work than any other researcher.
  
  -Catrin Finkenauer
   
• On my best days as a social psychologist, this is how I feel: I have the most interesting and intrinsically rewarding job in the world, and the only downside is that there’s no time to pursue every interesting idea or do every study that’s worth doing. That I ever get to feel that way at all is to a great extent a gift from Roy. (Somehow, though, he does find the time to do it all…I still haven’t figured that part out). I was Roy’s post-doc at Case Western Reserve University (his second post-doc, I believe), and to say that working with him was a turning point in my career Is no less true than saying that morphing into a butterfly is a turning point in the career of a caterpillar. Who else would have encouraged someone with a background investigating spontaneous trait inference to turn his attention to defensive projection and the creation of UFO abduction memories? Thanks, Roy—I’m proud to be one among the many who bear your intellectual imprint.
  
  -Len Newman
• I'm giving this donation to honor Dr. Roy Baumeister, in recognition of the tremendous contributions that he has made to the fields of social and personality psychology. Roy's work has been so influential in terms of its breadth and depth; he has been a true pioneer! It's wonderful to have an opportunity to acknowledge all that he has done--and all that he has given. I'm very pleased to contribute to the work of younger scholars and to honor Roy at the same time.
  
  -Julie Exline
• What an amazing mind!
  
  -June Tangney

• You know how you take a language class for many years and think that you are fluent, and then you go to where that’s the native language and you realize how much you need to get up to speed? It was like moving to another country, those first few months when I was a post-doc working with Baumeister. I just had no idea the intensity with which he approaches scholarship. And it’s not just psychology — about a month after I moved to Cleveland, he and his family took me to an amusement park. As Roy and I were waiting in line for a ride, he turned to me and said, “So besides psychology, what else do you know?” To which my inner reaction was, “Wait, what? Psychology isn’t enough?!” I think I said as much and he laughed, but his question was serious. Just because Roy is in a psychology department doesn’t mean that he is going to let artificial boundaries limit his ideas. Roy’s contributions to psychology are many but perhaps more remarkable is that he’s also contributed to sociology, religion, and philosophy. I think that’s one thing that I admire most about Roy, that he doesn’t constrain himself to what “should” be studied by psychologists or, for that matter, what “should” be studied at all. Roy leads the way not only by carving out new areas of study and new approaches, but more importantly by showing scholars that the most important goal is to find the truth — no matter where it’s found.
  
  -Kathleen Vohs

• When I was looking for graduate programs one of my instructors said that Roy Baumeister was the best social psychologist going and encouraged me to apply to work with him. I thought it was a long shot but after a short call I was admitted to Roy's laboratory and headed to Cleveland and CWRU. Roy did not disappoint. He was productive and wise, as expected, but also warm, funny, and decidedly un-PC, much to my delight. Perhaps my favorite of Roy's fine qualities is the generosity of his intellect. He used it to make my ideas and all of his students ideas better, and to prod us ask more interesting questions. I will always remember the first paper I wrote with Roy. I sent him a first draft and he sent it back a day or two later. In the meantime the draft had somehow grown more complex ideas expressed in simpler, smoother language. I have been trying to generate that same magic ever since. Thanks for setting high bars for us to shoot for, Roy, and for sharing your infectious high regard for ideas.
  
  -Brandon Schmeichel

• Roy’s brilliance in analyzing social processes, his unmatched ability in articulating his ideas in a rich and highly comprehendible manner, and his interest in a wide array of phenomena, make his contribution to the field of social psychology immeasurable. I feel fortunate for having my postdoctoral fellowship at his lab and for experiencing firsthand Roy's rigorous approach to research and open-minded approach to theory in social psychology. The welcoming and warm hospitality of him and his family (and lab members) during that time made the experience even more rewarding and influential. Roy – congratulations and thank you!
  
  -Liad Uziel  

• I met Roy at a conference in Ontario when I was a graduate student. After hearing his talk on an escape model of suicide and sexual masochism, I told Roy that I thought his theory might be useful for understanding binge eating. His immediate response was to suggest that we write a paper together on the topic, which we did and published in Psychological Bulletin. I was Roy’s first post-doc at Case Western Reserve University, which was one of the most intense intellectual experiences of my life. Roy loves to talk about ideas and we spent hours each day coming up with explanations for a variety of behaviors, from self-control failure, to guilt, to why people with high self-esteem sometimes acted in a self-defeating manner. Roy’s brilliance allows him to take complex and undecipherable patterns and bring coherence to them. I admire Roy for his unrelenting pursuit of the human condition, including its darkest elements.
  
  I came to realize the enormity and breadth of Roy's contribution to the field of psychology while writing and revising my introductory psychology textbook. His theoretical work is featured in many of the chapters—this is true of most introductory textbooks. The important point here is that Roy’s influence has been profound in many areas of psychology, from applied to basic science. He is not only prolific but one of the most cited researchers in the history of psychology. I congratulate Roy on adding another well-deserved honor to his illustrious career.
  
  -Todd Heatherton

• Roy challenged me to be a better academic than I ever thought I could be. He encouraged me to think deeply about my ideas and be receptive to contradictory ones. He taught me the importance of writing and gave me the skills to do it well. Roy’s eclectic interests inspire me to stay curious and never stop asking questions.
  
  -Lauren Brewer

• Roy taught me that science doesn't need to be applicable to be important. His enthusiasm for new ideas has given me confidence in my ideas and the motivation to see them through. Roy taught me how to write and how to love to write. Buy a nice chair, turn off your email, and for the moment, assume your paper is excellent.
  
  Roy is the most intellectually curious person I know, and I can't wait to hear what questions he asks next. I am deeply grateful for his influence in my research and my life.
  
  -Jessica Alquist

• Roy, you’ve taught me how to attend to detail without missing the big picture. Thank you for sharing your infectious curiosity, love of knowledge, and openness to ideas. It has been a pleasure working with you, and I am lucky to be able to call you my mentor.
  
  -Sarah Ainsworth

• Novel, big ideas is should matter most in science. Roy Baumeister serves as a continuous reminder of this broad scientific goal. That he has novel, big ideas is one thing, he has many, and across a number of scientific themes that – without exception - matter to the scientist as well as to the average person on the street. Roy serves as a prime example to scientists working in many disciplines and of all generations – now and in the distal future.
  
  -Paul Van Lange

• When I came to the US to work with Roy as a postdoc in 1993, I was fascinated by his readiness to question established views and look at the flip side of things. His extremely broad perspective on various phenomena was amazing – one of the few people today to embody the tradition of the Humboldtian “Universalgelehrter”. I agreed with his argument that methods should be based on questions instead of questions being developed on the basis of the methods that were available—and we analyzed autobiographical narratives when many researchers were focusing on lab experiments. What I learned from Roy was extremely important to my career. In the years that followed, we loosely stayed in touch, and I am very happy that I was recently able to successfully nominate Roy for the Alexander von Humboldt Award, the highest award available in Germany to foreign researchers.
  
  -Astrid Schütz

• Roy's candid and astute feedback impels me to become a better writer, thinker, and scholar. He is infectiously curious, and his broad range of knowledge allows him to converse intelligently about almost anything. He is not just a psychologist; he is an intellectual, in the best sense of that overused word.
  
  -Bo Winegard

• Time and time again Roy has demonstrated this amazing capacity to identify a genuinely interesting question, hone it down to a set of compelling alternative accounts, and then identify some elegant set of experiments that clearly reveals what's going on. Invariably, his work is clever, elegant, and important.
  
  -Jonathan Schooler

• Roy, not only have you been a source of great inspiration and ideas, you have been a source of excellent advice for me. I have greatly enjoyed and benefited from our many conversations over champagne and cigars. I look forward to many more.
  
  -Jim McNulty

• Thank you, Roy. I can't imagine what my career would look like if you didn't exist, but I know it would be much blander. You are an inspiration.
  
  -Eli Finkel

• Roy, your ability to impart knowledge has made me a better academic - your will to instill wisdom has made me a better man.
  
  -Mike Ent

• Without you, the academic world would be bleak. Your contributions will continue to shape the field's knowledges for decades if not centuries to come. Thank you for being a wonderful mentor, friend, and scholar.
  
  -Nicole Mead

• Dear Roy, If there is ever a time in your life that you may feel down, know in your heart how you lifted my life up, when I really needed it.
  
  -Xinyue Zhou

• My warmest congratulations, Roy, for being inducted on the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology’s Wall of Fame! The induction rightfully honors your innovative, groundbreaking contributions to so many areas of psychology (let along social and personality psychology). The first 35 years of your career have been an incredible intellectual journey. I hope the next 35 years will continue to be a boon to the field.
  
  -Constantine Sedikides

• I can't think of anyone over the last 40 years who has had more of an impact, on so many different and core social psychological domains, as Roy. Nor anyone so forthright in his own opinions yet open-minded to the opinions (and evidence) of others. Congratulations Roy as you take your rightful place on the Wall of Fame!
  
  -John Bargh

• I learned a lot not only from your research but also from your enthusiasm and commitment to understanding human psychology. Thank you for being such a great advisor and scholar who has inspired lots of people including me in social psychology!
  
  -Jina Park

• I had enjoyed Roy's writing on many different topics over the years before I finally had a chance to join him and Kathleen Vohs on our one and only collaboration. The campaign to put the "behavior" back into behavioral science is really aimed at making our field more relevant and more interesting, two things Roy's research has always been. His creative and wide-ranging mind has long enhanced our field, and continues to do so.
  
  -David Funder

• There very few people in our field who, whenever they write a book, chapter, or article, lead almost everyone to eagerly anticipate "I wonder what [Roy] has to say about THIS new topic?!" There are even fewer who actually deliver, time in and time out, such interesting, creative, honest, and thought-provoking ideas and arguments. As I have said to many people over the years, if our field did not have Roy Baumeister, including his keen mind, his willingness to push boundaries and new frontiers, and his tireless devotion to addressing so many truly fundamental questions that lie at the heart of what makes humans such interesting social animals, we would be a much less interesting, vibrant, and intellectually open field. Congratulations, Dr. Baumeister, for your numerous lasting contributions to the social and behavioral sciences!
  
  -Jeff Simpson

• To have had one awe-inspiring idea after another, and yet to have remained so diligent as a researcher, and so caring - one may even say so sweet - as a friend, is a testimony to a great man.
  
  -Thomas Joiner

• When Roy Baumeister was being recruited by Florida State University, I was asked to help out by meeting with him on campus. I jumped at the chance because I knew Roy would be a great catch, if we could reel him in. We had some serious interests in common: for example, self-deception and self-control – approached from different angles, given that my field is philosophy. And as we talked, I began to learn that Roy has the most-far ranging mind I have ever encountered. Over the past several years, we’ve talked a lot about another topic of mutual interest: free will. And that has led us to discussions of quantum mechanics, determinism, how mathematical truths fit into the nature of reality, and on and on. We all know that Roy knows a lot about the things he’s written about, but he knows a lot about many other interesting and important things too. I hope he has the time to work on all the topics that grab his attention. We would all benefit enormously from that. So maybe I should start trying to persuade him that, despite our on-going discussions, he and I have actually solved all the interesting problems about free will.
  
  Roy is a brilliant psychologist, a good friend, and a good man. I’m extremely pleased that he has received this well-deserved honor.
  
  -Al Mele

• Roy Baumeister taught me how to think critically, write clearly, and to never be afraid of the question "Why?" He was, and is, my adviser, my mentor, and my friend. It is because of him that I am able to do what I love.
  
  -Arlene Stillwell

• One day in the late spring of 1994, when I had just about finished my third year of graduate school, Roy and I set off in a U-Haul, driving his and Dianne’s possessions from their rented sabbatical home in Charlottesville VA back to Cleveland. Shortly after we got onto the highway Roy said to me, “Tell me your whole life story, and don’t leave anything out.” Over the course of the next several hours I told him the story, and he would sometimes ask for additional information or clarification. Anyone who knows Roy well would realize why I was not at all surprised at the request, and why I complied so readily. This is the way that Roy builds an understanding of, and insight into the self and the social world; by listening to stories. The whole social world is the source of his ideas, and he is always at work.
  
  Three years prior to that day I had arrived at CWRU for graduate school to study with Roy. I was a kid with raw academic skills and a functional, if undisciplined mind. It will not surprise the reader to learn that Roy had a deceptively casual approach to supervision and training, with most meetings proceeding as wandering conversations about the topic at hand. But it was clear from the start that he had an unrelenting focus on quality of thought and clarity of communication, and he constantly challenged me and my fellow students to improve these skills. A key aspect of our working relationship was the fact that I had the opportunity to observe first-hand the way in which Roy honed his own skills; through writing each and every day, discussing ideas incessantly, and taking an inquisitive approach to the world in general. Working with Roy I learned to take seriously the art and craft of writing, learned how to nurture and develop ideas, and in the fullness of time I began to resemble an academic and a psychologist.
  
  Another central aspect of working with Roy was learning how to be an academic serving a field of study. Roy was committed to demonstrating how to be a good and ethical professional in the academic world. I learned how to review the work of others, how to present critiques, how to communicate with fellow academics, and how to share ideas with the rest of the psychological community in a positive way. I learned to treat ideas, and the people who thought them, with respect and care. The fact that Roy has quite a large number of good friends among his colleagues speaks volumes not only about the quality of Roy’s work, but also the manner in which he has conducted his professional life.
  
  Reflecting on those days when I studied with Roy, it is clear to me that the things I value in my own career–my skills, and the way that I have chosen to conduct myself in relation to the work itself and other academics–have all been modelled after Roy’s example. I can’t thank him enough for providing me with a career’s worth of value, and it continues to be an honor to have been his student.
  
  -Joe Boden

• Thank you for teaching me how to think about big ideas.
  
  -W. Keith Campbell

• It is an honor to be the student of researcher as prolific an influential as Roy. He has had a profound impact on our understanding of human nature and has been a personal inspiration. Getting to know Roy personally has been a great pleasure. He has a rich sense of humor and encourages his students to be creative and follow their passion. Roy is one of the greats and the field would not be the same without him.
  
  -Michael J. MacKenzie

• What I admire most about Roy is his capacity to let go of all conventions and formulate truly new theoretical ideas about how social interactions work. I have never seen such a unique and strong combination of being able to develop new theories, and critically putting them to the experimental test.
  
  -Jill Lobbestael

• Roy is the smartest person I've ever met. But smart is just a state; it doesn't necessarily mean anything if you don't do something with it. This is what sets Roy apart: He does so much with it. He wields his intelligence relentlessly to figure out how the world works, paper after paper, book after book, talk after talk. I can't think of anyone who has made so many huge contributions to so many different areas and topics in psychology. They also happen to be topics most people are curious about: Does self-esteem matter? What is willpower? How do people act after they've been socially rejected? Roy is also wickedly funny; the loudest and longest laugh I've ever heard from a conference crowd was during one of his talks. I kept expecting a waitress to remind us of the two-drink minimum.
  
  I was lucky enough to do a postdoc with Roy, and I have no doubt that I would not be sitting here in San Diego with a faculty job if it wasn't for him. Sure, I did some work, but I literally owe my career to him. I learned so much about ideas, good writing, and experimental design, and also those ineffable things that really make for success, like what to prioritize and how to balance work and life. We had many discussions about the joys of being an academic, and I am eternally grateful to Roy for giving me that opportunity.
  
  -Jean Twenge

• I am glad to have Roy as a mentor because he thinks about so many different and interesting ideas. He is perfectly willing to take an unpopular position and advocate it for the purpose of finding scientific truth. And if the evidence shows he is wrong, he changes his mind. His open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity are the hallmarks of a great scientific thinker.
  
  -Andy Vonasch

• Roy, you have inspired me in many ways. For years I’ve wondered how you were able to publish so many articles. Now I know your secret: You continuously write as you breathe: morning, noon, and night. I’ve no doubt that you carry your laptop everywhere you go, even Friday night jazz concerts. I’ve also wondered how you could produce so many papers that other researchers were eager to cite. Now I know that secret, too. You have an exceptionally clear mind. Your humble and independent mind gives you the ability to see patterns where the facts are a jumble. Your ideas are unique and well-organized, so that they give other researchers something fresh and solid to build upon. For people who have profited from your work, their recurrent response is: “Yes! Why didn’t I think of that? Wow! He’s beautifully written what I’ve long wanted to say.” And I’ll never forget your tenacity and devotion to detail. I once asked you, “Have you finished writing that grant proposal?” Your answer: “Finished? ‘Finish’ is an ambiguous word. I finished it, but I haven’t ‘finished’ it.”
  
  I’m proud to be a fan of yours, Dr. Baumeister, but what’s more, I’ll always be grateful for the hospitality and generosity you extended to one who had so much to learn from you.
  
  -JongHan Kim