Fredda Blanchard-Fields was a professor of psychology at the
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
's School of Psychology. As director of the "School of Psychology’s Adult Development Laboratory", Blanchard-Fields led research efforts that address social-cognitive processes in everyday life, from adolescence to older adulthood. Recognizing that a great deal of psychological research has focused on ways in which cognitive abilities in adulthood decline with older age, Blanchard-Fields, as a
gerontologist
Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". Th ...
, and her colleagues focused on investigating domains in which adults continue to grow and develop throughout the lifespan and contribute to their competence in the social realm.
Biography
Fredda Blanchard-Fields was born September 19, 1948 in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. Blanchard-Fields grew up in California for most of her life where she attended
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
and received her undergraduate degree from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. She received her Ph.D in Developmental Psychology at Wayne State University in 1983. Following her doctoral work at Wayne University, she joined the faculty at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, where she taught for 10 years before joining the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993.
Blanchard-Fields was the mother of two sons. She died from complications of cancer on August 3, 2010, in Atlanta. She was 61 years old and lived in Atlanta since 1993 in the
Little Five Points
Little Five Points (also L5P, LFP, Little Five, or Lil' Five) is a district on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, east of downtown. It was established in the early 20th century as the commercial district for the adjacent In ...
area. As well as a research psychologist as well as a career and life mentor to many students and faculty, Blanchard-Fields was a world traveler and an enthusiastic dancer.
Career highlights and accomplishments
A psychology professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Psychology, Blanchard-Fields served as an associate editor of the journal ''
Psychology and Aging
''Psychology and Aging'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Psychological Association. The current editor-in-chief is Elizabeth L. Stine-Morrow (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). It covers research o ...
'' since 2003, with previous experience as an action editor and an editorial board member since 1999. In addition, she was awarded the Distinguished Mentor Award of the
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
in 2005. She was a member of multiple boards including the Scientific Advisory Board for Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Committee on Future Directions in Social Aging Research, and Federal Advisory Committee for the United States Social Security Administration.
During 2007, Blanchard-Fields was the Chair of the Grant Review Panel – Neuroeconomics and Aging, The
National Institute of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...
. She also had professional affiliations with the American Psychological Association,
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 ...
,
Gerontological Society of America
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is a multidisciplinary organization devoted to research and education in all aspects of gerontology: medical, biological, psychological and social.
History and organization
The Gerontological Society ...
,
Society for Research in Child Development
The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) is a professional society for the field of human development, focusing specifically on child development. It is a multidisciplinary, not-for-profit, professional association with a membership of ...
,
Psychonomic Society
The Psychonomic Society is an international scientific society of over 4,500 scientists in the field of experimental psychology. The mission of the Psychonomic Society is to foster the science of cognition through the advancement and communicati ...
, and
Southeastern Center for Applied Cognitive Aging Research.
Blanchard-Fields was appointed Chair of the School of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology in June 2009, after having served for a year as interim chair.
Selected publications
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* Blanchard-Fields, F., & Cooper, C. (2003). Social cognition and social relationships. In Lang, F., & Fingerman, K. (Eds.). Personal Relationships Across the Lifespan. New York: Cambridge.
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Wisdom Begins at the End: What We Gain With Old Age , Lost and Found , Brave Old World , Columbia , News21
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard-Fields, Fredda
American women psychologists
20th-century American psychologists
Women medical researchers
American gerontologists
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Wayne State University alumni
1948 births
2010 deaths
21st-century American women