Henry L. Roediger

Henry L. (Roddy) Roediger III is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has taught since 1996. He was formerly Chair of the Department of Psychology (1996-2004) and Dean of Academic Planning in Arts and Sciences (2004-2010) at Washington University. Earlier, he taught at Rice University, where he was the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Psychology, as well as at Purdue University and the University of Toronto. He is considered a leading cognitive psychologist studying learning and memory. He has contributed to the study of illusory or false memories (developed a major laboratory paradigm) and the study of implicit (unaware) expressions of memory (through transfer-appropriate processing framework). Roediger's research has centered on human learning and memory and he has published on many different topics within this area. His research interests over the years have included the effectiveness of retrieval cues in reviving memories; the use and effectiveness of mnemonic devices; cases of spontaneous remembering (reminiscence and hypermnesia); inhibitory processes in retrieval; dissociations between implicit and explicit measures of memory; factors responsible for memory illusions and false memories; aging and the arousal of illusory memories; applications of principles derived from cognitive psychology to improving education; collective and historical memory; and metaphors and theories used to explain memory and mental processes. He was editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition from 1985-1989 and was its associate editor from 1981-1984. He was founding editor of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (1994-1998). Roediger was President of the American Psychological Society (now the Association for Psychological Science) in 2003-2004. Previously, he was elected to the Governing Board of the Psychonomic Society (1986-1991) and served as its Chair in 1989-1990. He was also President of the Midwestern Psychological Association (1992-1993), as well as the Experimental Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. In 2004, Roediger received a Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa from Purdue University. He received the B.A. degree (1969) magna cum laude in psychology from Washington & Lee University, and the Ph.D. (1973) in psychology from Yale University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy in 2005 and has served as a member of the Class III:1 membership panel.