David Michael Thissen (born c. 1950) is an emeritus professor of

quantitative psychology Quantitative psychology is a field of scientific study that focuses on the mathematical modeling, research design and methodology, and statistical analysis of psychological processes. It includes tests and other devices for measuring cognitive a ...

at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and former President of the

Psychometric Society The Psychometric Society is an international nonprofit professional organization devoted to the advancement of quantitative measurement practices in psychology, education, and the social sciences. The society publishes a scientific journal calle ...

. He is a fellow at the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...

and the

American Psychological Society The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

. He is known for his contributions to

item response theory In psychometrics, item response theory (IRT) (also known as latent trait theory, strong true score theory, or modern mental test theory) is a paradigm for the design, analysis, and scoring of tests, questionnaires, and similar instruments measuring ...

Early life and education

The eldest of five children, Thissen graduated from St. Edmond High School in

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

and was a national semifinalist in the 1967

Westinghouse Science Talent Search Westinghouse may refer to: Businesses Current companies *Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the company that manages the Westinghouse brand, with licensees: **Westinghouse Electric Company, providing nuclear power-related services ** Westingho ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Louis University and a PhD in quantitative psychology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where he was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

Career

Upon receiving his PhD in 1976, Thissen joined the psychology faculty at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

and was appointed an associate professor (with tenure) five years later. He moved to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1990 as a full professor of psychology and served as the chair of the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory until 2002. He continues to serve UNC as a full professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. He is the author of hundreds of publications on testing and measurement, patient-reported health outcomes (PROs),

human development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution Human evoluti ...

, and statistical graphics. He published ''Test Scoring'' with

Howard Wainer Howard Wainer (born 1943) is an American statistician, past principal research scientist at the Educational Testing Service, adjunct professor of statistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and author, known for his cont ...

in 2001. He has also developed numerous psychometric software programs including Multilog and IRTPRO.

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

Vita
at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill {{DEFAULTSORT:Thissen, David American psychologists American statisticians Psychometricians University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Living people Fellows of the American Statistical Association Year of birth missing (living people) Quantitative psychologists