Psych Prof. Remembered

Brendan Maher spent his career as a psychology professor, department chair, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences dean, but in passing away this St. Patrick’s Day, he reminded friends and family that he was also an Irishman with a sense of humor.

In a memorial service held Friday afternoon, friends, family, and colleagues spoke of Maher’s witty and personable nature as well as his time in the British Royal Navy and the summers he spent in Nova Scotia with his family.

He passed away at the age of 84 at his home in Durham, North Carolina from prostate cancer.

Maher began his career at Harvard in 1960 as a lecturer in the psychology department and left in 1964 to teach at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Before returning to Harvard in 1972, Maher served as dean of the faculty at Brandeis University. During his tenure at Harvard, he taught undergraduates, extension school students, and graduate students. He also served as chair of the psychology department twice and as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

“He had an excellent sense of humor and, of course, a great mind,” said Social Ethics Professor Emeritus Herbert C. Kelman, a long time colleague of Maher’s, in an interview. “He had good relations with most everybody and he was widely respected. He was a leadership type.”

Psychiatry professor and colleague Theo C. Manschreck described Maher as a “pioneer in the field” of psychopathology research and said his book “The Principles of Psychopathology: An Experimental Approach” changed the field of schizophrenia research. Published during a time when most research was focused on description and rating of individual patients, Maher encouraged the use of more systematic experimental psychology methods to study schizophrenia.

“He wanted all to know the necessity of sound methodology,” Manschreck said.

Former students said they also found Maher to be an accessible, patient and humorous mentor.

Courtenay M. Harding came to Maher as a graduate student at the University of Vermont looking for help with a study. Although Harding was not a Harvard student, Maher met with her every Friday for 18 months to discuss the methodology and design of her study.

“He taught me so much, but he wouldn’t take any consulting money,” she said.

“I asked him one day why he spent so much time and energy on this project. He rubbed his hands together with glee and said, ‘I love to do work that is of practical significance.’”

Winifrid Barbara Maher, Maher’s wife of 56 years, taught with her husband several times at the Extension School.

“He thoroughly enjoyed teaching,” she said in an interview. “He loved working with students and mentoring them. He was always there to help students doing research.”

In concluding the memorial service, Reverend Peter J. Gomes noted Maher’s “grace and style” as a GSAS dean and called him an “island of calm in a sea of chaos.”

Maher is survived by his wife, five children, and five grandchildren.