History of the Junior Award and the Richard M. Griffith Memorial Award
James L. Pate
Georgia State University
Introduction
Scholarly organizations establish award programs for numerous reasons that are varied
and not necessarily mutually exclusive. Awards often are given to recognize outstanding
contributions to the discipline or to the organization and may include monetary rewards,
certificates, or plaques. Such awards may involve single instances of some outstanding
attribute such as presenting the best paper at a meeting or publishing the best article in
a journal or may involve long-term contributions of various kinds. The degree of
specificity of the award differs within organizations and between organizations. In
addition to recognizing contributions of members and to rewarding those members,
scholarly organizations use awards of various kinds to attract new members and
perhaps to retain members. For the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, a
major award program was the Junior Award for best paper presented by a young
scholar. The Richard M. Griffith Memorial Award replaced the Junior Award in the early
1970s. I will provide information about these two award programs is this essay and will
present information about the Society’s other award programs, the Honorary Member
for Life award and the Graduate Student Travel Award, in subsequent essays.
Junior Award
Prior to 1958, the Society gave no awards for outstanding papers, but at the 50th
meeting, the Society designated two special award papers from those presented by
members “who had not received the Ph.D. or had received it within the last five years”
(Webb, 1959, p. 541). For 1958 through 1961, special award papers were identified, but
beginning in 1962, Junior Awards were given. Prior to 1962, the papers were selected
from among those presented by young scholars as described above, but from 1962 until
the end of the Junior Award program, the papers of highest merit presented by young
scholars was selected. It is implicit in special award years that the papers that were
selected were the most meritorious or best papers, but that attribute was not stated. The
recipients of those awards are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Junior Award (Special Award) Recipients (1958-1970)
Year
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1968
1969
1969
1970
Philosophy
Joseph Margolis, Univ. of South Carolina
William T. Blackstone, University of Florida
William T. Blackstone, University of Florida
William T. Blackstone, University of Florida
Donald W. Sherburne, Vanderbilt University
Richard A. Smyth, Univ. of North Carolina
John T. Wilcox, Emory University
Edward M. Galligan, Univ. of North Carolina
Don Ihde, Southern Illinois University
George B. Thomas , University of Virginia
Robert L. Arrington, Georgia State University
Thomas K. Hearns, Coll. of William and Mary
John Beversluis, Emory University
James F. Harris, University of Georgia
Richard D. Parry, Agnes Scott College
Psychology
Warren Willingham, US Naval School of Aviation
Alfred E. Kuenzli, Southern Illinois University
Daniel Smersh Lordahl, Washington University
Dempsey F. Pennington, University of Alabama
W. W. Dawson, US Army Medical Research Lab
Leonard E. Jarrard, Washington and Lee University
Vesta C. Skees, University of Louisville
William P. Paré, Boston College
Norman R. Remley, University of Florida
Henry B. van Twyver, University of Florida
Phillip R. Costanzo , University of Florida
Virgil V. McKenna, College of William and Mary
Ben B. Morgan, Jr., University of Louisville
Malcolm W. Huckabee, Univ. of Southern Miss.
A description of the selection procedure has not been found, but a Junior Award
Committee existed from 1958 through 1966. Although the co-chairs of the Committee
for 1958 through 1966 have not been identified, the chairs for 1967 through 1970 are
listed in Table 1. Some past presidents served as the co-chairs of the Junior Award
Committee, but some co-chairs had not been presidents of the SSPP. The means of
selecting the chairs of the Junior Award Committee remains to be determined.
Table 2. Co-Chairs of the Junior Award (Special Award) Committees
Year
1967
1968
1969
1970
Philosophy
Co-Chair
Charles Bigger
Rubin Gotesky
Willis Moore
Lewis Hammond
Affiliation
Louisiana State University
Northern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
University of Virginia
Psychology
Co-Chair
Milton Hodge
Leland E. Thune
Earl A. Alluisi
Milton Hodge
Affiliation
University of Georgia
Vanderbilt University
University of Louisville
University of Georgia
For most years, one paper in each discipline was selected, but for two years (1968 and
1969), two awards were given in philosophy. Also, in 1969, but not in 1968, two awards
were given in psychology. Twenty-nine Junior Awards or special awards were
presented between 1958 and 1970 (inclusively), with 15 awards to philosophers and 14
awards to psychologists. The Society gave awards to 27 different people, with William
Blackstone receiving the award for three consecutive years. He is the only person in the
history of the Society to receive more than one award for best paper.
Continued participation in the Society and serving in leadership roles are indicators of
the effectiveness of the award program. Blackstone, Sherburne, and Harris, three
recipients of the awards, subsequently were elected president of the Society.
Blackstone also served as a member of the Council and as secretary, and Sherburne
served as a member of the Council and as treasurer. Arrington and Remley were
members of the Council. Harris and Morgan participated in programs as recently as
2004. Thus, to some extent, the early award program served to attract new members
and to retain some of those members. An analysis of participation of the winners in
programs before and after the receipt of the award will be presented in another section
of the SSPP history.
Transition to the Griffith Award
In 1971, two Junior Awards were given, but according to the proceedings of the
meeting, the awards are “now denominated as Richard M. Griffith Memorial Awards”
(Blackstone, 1971, p. 843. According to the proceedings, the winners in 1970 were
listed as Junior Award winners, but they were notified that they had received the Griffith
Award. Thus, the Griffith Award began in either 1970 or 1971, but for the present essay,
I will assume that the Griffith Award began in 1971.
Richard M. Griffith Memorial Award
The recipients of the Griffith Award from 1971 through 2009 are shown in Table 3. The
eligibility for the award was the same as during the Junior Award era, and the
description of the papers as being of the highest merit continued. Through 1996, the
candidates for the award had to be members, but beginning in 1997, candidates for the
award were to be members or applicants for membership who are doctoral candidates.
For candidates who have received the doctoral degree, it must have been received
within the last five years, a condition that has existed from the inception of this award
program.
Table 3. Griffith Award Recipients (1971-2015)
Year
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Philosophy
Edward S. Shirley, LSU
Allen Gibbons, East Carolina University
Alan E. Fuchs, College of William and Mary
Roger J. Sullivan, Univ. South Carolina
Paul Tibbetts, University of Dayton
George Graham, UAB
Gerald W. Casenave, Vanderbilt University
Jeffrey Tlumak, Vanderbilt University
H. Scott Hestevold, University of Alabama
Mark C. Overvold, VCU
Peter J. Markie, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
Alfred R. Mele, Davidson College
Judith Andre, Old Dominion University
David N. James, Longwood College
Dorothy Coleman, Bowdoin College
Michael P. Smith, Davidson College
Richard McCarty, East Carolina University
James Robert Peters, Univ. of the South
Lila Luce, Univ. Alabama, Birmingham
Piers Rawling, University of Georgia
Kirk Ludwig, University of Florida
Robert Wilson, Cornell University
Victoria McGeer, Vanderbilt University
Paul Davies, UNC Chapel Hill
Steven Hales, University of Bloomsburg
Claire Elise Katz, University of Memphis
Seth Holtzman, Murray State University
Michael P. Lynch, University of Mississippi
Jonathan A. Waskan, Washington University
Jennifer McKitrick, UAB
David Shoemaker, Cal State - Northridge
Thomas Polger, University of Cincinnati
Chase B. Wrenn, University of Alabama
Alan Coates, Vanderbilt University
John Collins, East Carolina University
Andrea Scarantino, Georgia State University
Max Deutsch, East Carolina University
Steven Todd, University of Connecticut
Justin Tiehen, University of Puget Sound
Theodore Bach, University of Connecticut
Corey Maley, Princeton University
Myrto Mylopoulos, CUNY Graduate Center
Paul Carron, Baylor University
Shannon Spaulding, Oklahoma State Univ.
Michael Roche, Mississippi State University
Psychology
George W. Menzer, University of Louisville
L. James Shapiro, University of Manitoba
G. Rufus Sessions, Walter Reed Army Institute
Mary Ellen O'C. Chernovetz, Univ. of Tulsa
Frank Holly, U.S. Army Research Lab.
Louis M. Proenza, University of Georgia
Mary G. Boyd, College of Charleston
Gerald P. Kreuger, Johns Hopkins University
Richard A. Burns, Georgia Southwestern
Sarah McLeod Miller, University of Virginia
Sara Stokes Benzel, Georgia State University
Michael N. O'Malley, University of Colorado
Lynn Percival, Naval Aerospace Med Res. Lab
Douglas E. Landon, Army Aeromedical Res. Lab
Michael D. Chafetz, Tulane University
Carol S. Holding, University of Louisville
Mark W. Scerbo, AT&T Systems
Mary Lynne Dittmar, Univ. Alabama, Huntsville
Kelly Gurley Lambert, Randolph-Macon College
Wendy A. Rogers, Memphis State University
David A. Washburn, Georgia State University
Nick Haslam, New School for Social Research
Alfred Witkofsky, College of Charleston
Cecilia M. Acocella, Washington College
Leslee K. Pollina, Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Harold H. Greene, CERT Morris Brown College
Michael J. Beran, Georgia State University
Thomas J. Capo, Auburn University
John Paul Minda, University of Illinois
Samuel Fernandez-Carriba, Georgia State Univ.
Claudio Cantalupo, Georgia State University
William S. Helton, Wilmington College
Dawn Morales, University of Pennsylvania
Lauren A. Taglialatela, Emory University
Joshua Redford, University of Buffalo, SUNY
Justin Couchman, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Lisa Heimbauer, Georgia State University
Matthew Wisniewski, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Bonnie Perdue, Georgia State University
Reggie Paxton Gazes, Zoo Atlanta
Andrew Kelly, Georgia Gwinnett College
In 1981, a special award was given in philosophy to A. J. Mandt, Virginia
Commonwealth University, because the Griffith Award Committee in philosophy could
not distinguish between the quality of two of the papers. Thus, in the 45 years in which
the Griffith Award has been given, 46 awards have been given in philosophy. In
psychology, only 41 awards have been given with no award having been given in four
years. In two years, no psychology submissions were received, and in two other years,
the submitted papers were judged to be insufficiently meritorious to receive a Griffith
Award.
One philosophy winner, Coleman, has been secretary and president, and another,
Polger, was a council member and was President in 2011. Lynch also was a Griffith
award winner (1998) and served as President in 2013. Four other philosophy winners
(Graham, Mckitrick, Wrenn, and Spaulding) have been council members. In psychology,
Burns and Washburn have been Secretary and subsequently president. Beran was
Treasurer and subsequently President. Taglialatela currently serves as Treasurer. Nine
psychology winners have served on the Council.
Griffith Committee Co-Chairs
Co-Chairs of the Griffith Committee for Psychology have been the immediate past
president for psychology. Thus, each person served as co-chair for two years. The cochairs of the Griffith Committee for philosophy were appointed for one- or two-year
terms from 1971 until 1980 when the arrangement became the same as in psychology
with each past philosophy president serving two years as co-chair of the Griffith
Committee. Prior to 1980, some past presidents served as co-chairs, but other co-chairs
were philosophers who never had been president (e.g., John Lachs) of the Society.
Each co-chair established a committee to evaluate the submissions based on the
written paper and the presentation of the paper. The number of committee members
varied as a function of the number of papers submitted for the award.
Table 4. Co-Chairs of the Griffith Award Committees
Year
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Philosophy
Maynard Adams, Univ. of North Carolina
Dwight Van de Vate, Univ. of Tennessee
William T. Blackstone, University of Georgia
Douglas Browning, University of Texas
Douglas Browning, University of Texas
William T. Blackstone, University of Georgia
Dwight Van de Vate, Univ. of Tennessee
Andrew J. Reck, Tulane University
John Lachs, Vanderbilt University
Donald Sherburne, Vanderbilt University
Donald Sherburne, Vanderbilt University
L. B. Cebik, University of Tennessee
L. B. Cebik, University of Tennessee
Donald S. Lee, Tulane University
Donald S. Lee, Tulane University
Psychology
Malcolm Arnoult, Texas Christian University
Malcolm Arnoult, Texas Christian University
Stanley B. Williams, College of William and Mary
Stanley B. Williams, College of William and Mary
Lelon J. Peacock, University of Georgia
Lelon J. Peacock, University of Georgia
Clyde E. Noble, University of Georgia
Clyde E. Noble, University of Georgia
H. D. Kimmel, University of South Florida
H. D. Kimmel, University of South Florida
Ina McD. Bilodeau, Tulane University
Ina McD. Bilodeau, Tulane University
Arthur L. Irion, University of Missouri at St. Louis
Arthur L. Irion, University of Missouri at St. Louis
Arthur J. Riopelle, Louisiana State University
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Rem B. Edwards, University of Tennessee
Rem B. Edwards, University of Tennessee
Nancy D. Simco, Memphis State University
Nancy D. Simco, Memphis State University
Bowman L. Clark, University of Georgia
Bowman L. Clark, University of Georgia
Sandra B. Rosenthal, Loyola University
Sandra B. Rosenthal, Loyola University
James Harris, College of William and Mary
James Harris, College of William and Mary
James Dye, Northern Illinois University
James Dye, Northern Illinois University
William Bechtel, Georgia State University
William Bechtel, Georgia State University
Dorothy Coleman, Coll. of William and Mary
Dorothy Coleman, Coll. of William and Mary
Robert Burton, University of Georgia
Robert Burton, University of Georgia
Michael Hodges, Vanderbilt University
Michael Hodges, Vanderbilt University
John Bickle, University of Cincinnati
John Bickle, University of Cincinnati
Nicholas Georgalis, University of Cincinnati
Nicholas Georgalis, East Carolina University
Ken Aizawa, Centenary College
Ken Aizawa, Centenary College
Tom Polger, University of Cincinnati
Tom Polger, University of Cincinnati
Michael Lynch, University of Connecticut
Michael Lynch, University of Connecticut
Arthur J. Riopelle, Louisiana State University
M. Carr Payne, Georgia Institute of Technology
M. Carr Payne, Georgia Institute of Technology
James L. Pate, Georgia State University
James L. Pate, Georgia State University
Stephen F. Davis, Emporia State University
Stephen F. Davis, Emporia State University
Joel S. Warm, University of Cincinnati
Joel S. Warm, University of Cincinnati
Richard A. Burns, Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Richard A. Burns, Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Duane M. Rumbaugh, Georgia State University
Duane M. Rumbaugh, Georgia State University
Ulric Neisser, Cornell University
Ulric Neisser, Cornell University
Roger Thomas, University of Georgia
Roger Thomas, University of Georgia
Thomas Cadwallader, Indiana State University
Thomas Cadwallader, Indiana State University
David A. Washburn, Georgia State University
David A. Washburn, Georgia State University
Debra Sue Pate, Jackson State University
Debra Sue Pate, Jackson State University
Hajime Otani, Central Michigan University
Hajime Otani, Central Michigan University
John Monahan, Central Michigan University
John Monahan, Central Michigan University
J. David Smith, University at Buffalo, SUNY
J. David Smith, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Michael J. Beran, Georgia State University
Description of the Award and Eligibility
From the beginning of the Griffith Award program, the committees selected the “paper
of highest merit presented by members who have not yet received the doctoral degree
or who have received it within the last five years” (Blackstone, 1971, p. 843). This
description of the papers and the eligibility for the award remained the same until 1989,
when “who have not yet received the doctoral degree or” was deleted from the
statement in the proceedings (Burns, 1989, p. 1539). Whether the requirement had
been changed or the proceedings were modified without an actual change in
requirements for eligibility remains to be determined. Then in 1997, the requirement was
restated as “members or applicants for membership who are doctoral candidates or
have received the doctoral degree within the past five years” (Coleman, 1997, p. 1364).
Honorarium and Funding Source
The honorarium was $100.00 for each winner from the inception of the award program
in 1958 until recently when the honorarium was increased to $300.00 for each winner.
The funds for the award were provided from the treasury of the Society from the
beginning of the award program through 1970. Since then, the funds from the award
have been from the Richard M. Griffith Memorial Fund, which was administered by Mary
Ellen Curtin, one of Dr. Griffith colleagues at the Veterans Administration Hospital in
Lexington, Kentucky. Following her retirement, Dr. Curtin transferred the money from
the Griffith Fund to the SSPP, where the funds have remained separate from the
general fund.
Richard M. Griffith, Jr.
Richard M. Griffith, Jr. was elected a member of the Southern Society for Philosophy
and Psychology in 1951 in Roanoke, Virginia, at the 49th meeting and remained a
member until his death in 1969. He and his students presented a variety of papers at
meetings from 1950 until 1965, and he served on the Local Arrangements Committee in
1964 when he represented the Kentucky Psychological Association in making
arrangements for the joint meeting of the SSPP and the Kentucky Psychological
Association.
Griffith was born in Paducah, Kentucky on September 2, 1921, and was killed in an
automobile accident in February 1969. He received the Bachelor of Science degree in
1943, the Master of Arts degree in 1947, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1950,
all from the University of Kentucky. His master’s thesis was entitled “An Evaluation of an
Experimental Form of a College Entrance Examination.” His dissertation was entitled
“Typical Dreams: A Statistical Study of Personality Correlates,” which he apparently
presented in preliminary form at the 1950 SSPP meeting.
In addition to research about personality and clinical topics, he performed research on
horse betting, which is not surprising given that he was in Lexington, Kentucky. He also
organized, in conjunction with Erwin W. Straus, conferences about memory, will, and
other topics, the proceedings of which they published in a series of books.
Obviously, Griffith’s monetary contribution to the Southern Society has been immensely
valuable in that the award program has attracted many young scholars who have
become leaders of the Society. The extent to which people have remained members
because they received the award is difficult to determine, and certainly a large number
of award recipients have not maintained their membership. Nonetheless, the Griffith
Award program and the other award programs of the Society are very important
components of the Society.
References
Blackstone, W. T (1971). Proceedings of the sixty-third annual meeting of the Southern
Society for Philosophy and Psychology. American Psychologist, 26, 843-847.
Burns, R. A.(1989). Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology: Report of the
eighty-first annual meeting. American Psychologist, 44, 1539.
Coleman, D. (1997). Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology: Report of the
eighty-ninth annual meeting. American Psychologist, 52, 1364-1365.
Webb, W. B. (1959). Proceedings of the fiftieth annual meeting of the Southern Society
for Philosophy and Psychology. American Psychologist, 14, 540-543.
©July 20, 2009 (updated April 2015)