John Robert Putnam French Jr. (August 7, 1913 – October 14, 1995) was an American

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

who served as professor emeritus at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He may be best known for his collaboration with

Bertram Raven Bertram Herbert Raven (September 26, 1926 – February 26, 2020) was an American academic. He was a member of the faculty of the psychology department at UCLA from 1956 until his death. He is perhaps best known for his early work in collaboration ...

on French and Raven's five bases of power in 1959.

Life and career

John (Jack) French was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and graduated from

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, and

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. In 1940 French received his doctorate from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, completing a dissertation on the cohesion of groups under distress. He became noted as an expert in

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

and experimental research, especially in the application of

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States. During his professional career Lewin applied hi ...

's field theory to organizational and industrial settings. French published widely. He served as a program director at the Research Center for Group Dynamics in 1947, and as president of the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues. He received the National Institute for Mental Health's Research Career Award and was the recipient of a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

. In 1937 French married Sophia L. Hunt and the couple had two children, Rebecca Kennedy and John R. P. French III. He died at Glacier Hills Nursing Center at the age of 82.

References

, ''French, John R. P. Jr. (1913-1995)'', in
Encyclopedia of Power
Keith Dowding ed., SAGE Publications Inc, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:French, John R. P. 1913 births 1995 deaths American social psychologists Antioch College alumni Black Mountain College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Michigan faculty Fulbright alumni