Annenberg faculty member Martin Fishbein, 1936 - 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Martin Fishbein, Ph.D., the Harry C. Coles, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Communication, and Director of the Health Communication Program in the Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, died Friday, November 27, while traveling in London. He was 73-years-old.
Dr. Fishbein has authored or edited seven books and contributed over 250 articles and chapters to professional books and journals.
Dr. Fishbein is the author of the
Theory of Reasoned Action and the
Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction and Change. His theory is the most cited AIDS behavioral theory in the scientific literature, and is widely used in the fields of communication, public health, advertising, and psychology. In addition to his academic accomplishments, he has served on the NIMH Mental Health AIDS Research Review Committee, the NIMH AIDS Policy Subcommittee of the National Advisory Mental Health Council, and has been a special consultant on behavior and behavior change for the NIMH AIDS research program. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Fishbein was a guest researcher in the Behavioral Prevention Research Branch in the Division of HIV/STD Prevention and served as Acting Chief of the Behavioral Interventions and Research Branch of the Division of STD Prevention, in the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention.
Dr. Fishbein had been a member of the faculty at Annenberg since June 1997, when he was appointed a member of the Standing Faculty at the school by the University’s Board of Trustees. The
Penn Almanac, in its October 7, 1997 edition announcing his appointment, described Dr. Fishbein in this fashion:
"Martin Fishbein, Harry C. Coles Jr. Distinguished Professor, is an expert in social psychology, communication research, and health communication. He is working on the first large scale study to produce documentable behavior effects in a target population; Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles."
Dr. Fishbein was inducted into the American Marketing Association's Attitude Research Hall of Fame and has received numerous awards, including The National Association of Recording Merchandisers Special Recognition Award, The Interamerican Psychology Society's Prize, the CDC’s Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Scientific Excellence, and in 2003, he received American Public Health Association’s Mayhew Derryberry Award for outstanding contributions to health education, health promotion and health communication research and theory.
He has also been president of both the Society for Consumer Psychology (Division 23 of the American Psychology Association) and the Interamerican Psychological Society.
During his years at the University of Illinois and University of Pennsylvania he mentored dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. His supervision of students has ranged from a dissertation advisor to that of a professor and co-author. His students include such prominent figures as Dr. Icek Azjen, Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, who developed the Theory of Planned Behavior; Dr. James Jaccard, Professor of Psychology at Florida International in Miami, and Dr. Dolores Albarracín, Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois.
Plans for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
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