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A student of George Kelly’s at both Ohio State and Brandeis Universities, Jack Adams-Webber has emerged as a key figure in personal construct psychology.  The author and co-author of many influential books, book chapters, and articles, Jack has played a major role in promoting Kellian constructivism to the position it now has in psychology at large.

Jack grew up mainly in the Washington D.C. area during the 1940’s and early 1950’s.  After active duty in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1956-57, where he was cited as “outstanding soldier of Reserve Forces act personnel class XVI” (he received an honorable discharge in 1964) he pursued an undergraduate degree at Haverford College, majoring in philosophy.  During this time, he spent an exchange year at the University of Edinburgh.  He graduated in 1962.

 Following graduation, Jack took a position at Columbus Academy in Columbus, Ohio, teaching English, and coaching football and basketball.  He claims he “couldn’t teach well without working hard at it”, and so moved on to pursue graduate work in psychology at Ohio State University.  His interest in psychology began with two undergraduate experiences.  The first was taking a psychology class at Haverford with David Rosenhan (“On Being Sane in Insane Places”).  The second, working as an attendant at a private “mental hospital”.

Jack became familiar with personal construct psychology when George Kelly was appointed his psychotherapy supervisor at Ohio State.  Soon after this, Kelly invited Jack to join his research team.  This research left a lasting impression on Jack.
 When Kelly moved on to Brandeis University in 1965, Jack followed.  He worked with Kelly at Brandeis until Kelly’s death in 1967.  Jack was awarded his Ph.D. in early 1968.

Following graduate school, Jack served as principal psychologist (research) with the British Medical Research Council Unit for the Study of Clinical Thought Disorder, at Bexley Hospital in London, England.  At Bexley, Jack came under the influence of the late Don Bannister.  As with his graduate experience, Jack’s research at Bexley was a key focus for him.

In 1970, Jack took an academic position at Brock University, in St. Catharines, Ontario, becoming full professor in 1980.  He has been a vital member of Brock’s psychology department, and the Brock community at large, serving in various capacities on a number of committees and groups.

During his years at Brock, Jack has accomplished a great deal of work in the name of personal construct psychology.  He has produced many first-rate publications, which have been important to other constructivist researchers.  Notable works include his frequently cited text Personal Construct Psychology: Concepts and Applications (1979) and the two books he has co-authored/co-edited with James Mancuso, The Construing Person (1982) and Applications of Personal Construct Theory (1983).

In addition to these influential books, Jack has authored and co-authored over 90 book chapters, refereed journal articles, and reviews, as well as 52 invited or refereed conference presentations.  Jack has also done considerable work in the software development of constructivist applications.  A program he has most recently collaborated on is called ICONKAT.  ICONKAT is a knowledge acquisition system that implements an expert system which can evaluate noninvasive cardiac functional images that are used to diagnose heart wall motion abnormalities.  Other programs he has worked on include; GRIDGRAPH, GRIDNET, MacGrid, NICOD, OMNIGRID, and PINOCCHIO.

Beyond authoring, Jack has been a presence in other ways.  He has served as associate editor of the Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence since 1992.  He has also been on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology since 1988, and served on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science from 1982 to 1994.  He has also served as editorial consultant for more than a dozen other journals, including The British Journal of Psychology, British Journal of Social Psychology, International Journal of Expert Systems, and the Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology.  Jack has also been a visiting scholar and professor at the University of West Florida.  Additionally he has been an invited lecturer at over a dozen universities including; University of Florida, Kansas State University, University of London, University of Memphis, University of Sussex and University of Toronto. Although Jack’s work as author, editor, and lecturer is by itself a great achievement, his best work may be on a more personal level.  Jack has stimulated a number of students and colleagues, who themselves have gone on to produce important work in personal construct psychology.

As an aside, it is with pleasure that I am able to write this small tribute to Jack.  As one of his understudies, I can attest to the positive influence he has over his students.  In preparation for this piece, I was able to talk with some of Jack’s former students.  They noted how his enthusiasm for research had rubbed off on them.  One of his students, self-described as a “once average student”, is now doing a post-doctoral position in forensics with the Ontario Ministry of Corrections.  He described how Jack rallied behind him to undertake some research and publish it.  “He basically turned my academic life around, [and] made me get interested in science and psychology.”

Presently, Jack’s research interests involve computational models of cognitive processes.  His plans for the future are to continue his research and teaching.

Beyond professional interests, Jack counts his family and friends as the most important figures his life.  He is married to Margot Cameron Adams-Webber, and has two grown children, Thomasin and Cameron.

 Jack Adams-Webber