n a t i o n a l a c a d e m y o f s c i e n c e s
Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Academy of Sciences.
carl iver Hovland
1912—1961
A Biographical Memoir by
roGe r n. s HePard
Biographical Memoir
Copyright 1998
NatioNal aCademies press
washiNgtoN d.C
CARL IVER HOVLAND
June 12, 1912April 16, 1961
BY ROGER N. SHEPARD
YALE PSYCHOLOGIST Carl Hovland made singularly
important contributions to experimental, social, and
cognitive psychology (focusing respectively on human learn-
ing, attitude change, and concept acquisition). In the pro-
cess he worked unremittingly "to improve the standards
and quality of research in psychology and related fields,"
earning (in the words of one of his longtime coworkers)
universal recognition as a "statesman of the social sciences"
(Janis, 1968, p. 530).
Hovland also served as an insightful and trusted consult-
ant to numerous governmental and educational agencies,
industrial organizations, and philanthropic foundations. All
this he did within a life lasting not quite forty-nine years.
He could hardly have foreseen how limited would be the
time available to him (both his parents lived into their
nineties). Yet he compensated, in effect, through his re-
markable precocity, quickness of mind, and productive use
of every waking moment-along with his extraordinary ability
to bring together bright young researchers with widely dif-
fering theoretical perspectives, to provide them with sup-
port and subtle guidance, and to formulate coherent syn-
theses of the emerging results. A man of unsurpassed
gentleness and moral integrity, he left a deep and perma-
nent mark on everyone who knew him.
I first met Carl Hovland when I arrived for graduate
study in Yale's illustrious Department of Psychology in the
fall of 1951. Hovland's title, Sterling professor, seemed
wonderfully euonymous for this tall, distinguished man,
endowed as he was with rare personal qualities and wavy
hair turning to silver. Now, over forty-five years later, I am
astonished to realize that this revered member of the de-
partment, who had been serving as chairman of the de-
partment and director of the Laboratory of Psychology,
was at that time only thirty-nine years old!
Particularly striking were the apparent ease and efficiency
with which Hovland managed all the many things in which
he was always engaged and his constructive use of every
moment of time. While showing genuine interest in every-
one with whom he had contact, he had a way of keeping
administrative interactions brief and to the point. His ex-
traordinary memory enabled him to carry out much of the
department's business through chance meetings in the hall
or stairway-venues that minimized the risk of someone