Barbara Patricia Tizard, (née Parker; 16 April 1926 – 4 January 2015) was a British

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

and academic, specialising in

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...

. She was Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to m ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

from 1980 to 1990, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Education from 1982 to 1990.

Early life and education

Tizard was born on 16 April 1926 in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, London, England. Her parents divorced when she was seven, and she was then raised by her single mother. Having won a scholarship, she was educated at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

, an all-girls

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in London. She

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

into

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

in 1944 to study medicine but changed to Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) after a year. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. She later undertook part-time postgraduate studies at the

, and completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree on the "psychological effects of brain damage".

Academic career

Tizard was a lecturer at the

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a research institution dedicated to discovering what causes mental illness and diseases of the brain. In addition, its aim is to help identify new treatments for them and ways ...

between 1963 and 1967. She joined the

(IOE),

in 1967. She was Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, from 1980 to 1990, and

of Education from 1982 to 1990. She retired from the IOE in 1990 and was appointed

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

by the University of London.

Personal life

The then Barbara Parker met

Jack Tizard Jack Tizard Order of the British Empire, CBE (25 February 1919 – 2 August 1979) was a research psychologist, professor of child development, research unit director, international adviser on learning disability and child care, and a president of ...

while she was studying at the University of Oxford. Unusually for the time, she was given permission to marry while still an undergraduate, and they did so in 1947. Together they had five children. Her husband predeceased her, dying in 1979.

Honours

In 1997, Tizard was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She was also an elected

Fellow of the British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...

(FBPsS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tizard, Barbara Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford 1926 births 2015 deaths British women psychologists 20th-century British psychologists 21st-century British psychologists Developmental psychologists Child psychologists Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the British Psychological Society People from West Ham People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Alumni of the University of London