Pioneering Psychology Professor Passes Away at 69

AHEAD OF HIS TIME

Stone, a University of Chicago alum, earned his doctorate in psychology and social relations at Harvard when he was just 23.

Internationally, Stone is best known for programming a software system called General Inquirer, which performs content analysis on text gathered from surveys and questionnaires.

Professor of Psychology Daniel T. Gilbert said that Stone was ahead of his time in realizing that computers could be used to analyze text—a rather radical idea in the 1960s.

"I think he is going to be universally remembered as a very gentle man who read widely and thought very deeply," Gilbert said.

Lecturer in Psychology Tal Ben-Shachar ’96 said that Stone "was the first person to identify the potential for computers and technology in research."

"His invention continues to have huge implications for research in psychology, sociology, and economics," Ben-Shachar said.

‘CONCERNED ABOUT STUDENTS’

Ben-Shachar also identified Stone as the primary reason he came back to Harvard for graduate school after studying psychology at the College.

For six straight years, Ben-Shachar worked closely with Stone as a teaching fellow. Ben-Shachar took over Stone’s popular "Positive Psychology" course last spring.

Stone taught a freshman seminar, "Changing Conceptions of Leadership"—most recently in the fall of 2004. He was scheduled to teach Psychology 1563, "Psychological Themes in Texts," next academic year.

Ben-Shachar said that Stone "was concerned about students really getting the message, not just the academic message."

Standing before students in a nearly brimming Sanders Theatre this week, Ben-Shachar publicly announced that he plans to dedicate his two spring courses, Psychology