Marjorie Kendig Gates (1892–1981), best known as M . Kendig, was an American administrator, director of the

Institute of General Semantics The Institute of General Semantics (IGS) is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by Alfred Korzybski, to support research and publication on the topic of general semantics. The Institute publishes Korzybski's writings, including the se ...

from 1950 until 1965, and co-worker of

Alfred Korzybski Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (, ; July 3, 1879 – March 1, 1950) was a Polish-American independent scholar who developed a field called general semantics, which he viewed as both distinct from, and more encompassing than, the field of s ...

, who developed the theory of

general semantics General semantics is concerned with how events translate to perceptions, how they are further modified by the names and labels we apply to them, and how we might gain a measure of control over our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral respons ...

. She completed Korzybski's collected writings after his death in 1950.

Career

Marjorie Kendig was one of the founders of the

in 1938 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. According to Read (1976), Kendig had "great ability as an administrator to organize, to plan, to budget, to assist in innumerable ways in launching it as the Educational Director, made it possible for Korzybski to carry out his work as lecturer and writer. He was able to give many seminars throughout the year at this new center for his work, and also wrote quite prolifically. Miss Kendig's efforts and know-how were crucial in establishing and developing the program of the Institute, and even more crucial in carrying it on after Korzybski's death in 1950." As Education Director for the Institute of General Semantics from its inception in 1938, Kendig began publication of the ''General Semantics Bulletin'' in 1949. The Bulletin is considered the Institute's annual 'yearbook.' Jointly with Elwood Murray she programmed the 1942 and 1950 congresses in general semantics held at

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

.Elwood Murray
Collection Special Collections & Archives, retrieved 15 April 2008. In the late 1950s she was among the first members of the

Society for General Systems Research The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: :"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their ...

Publications

* M. Kendig (Editor) (1990), ''Alfred Korzybski: Collected Writings, 1920-1950'', Institute of General Semantics.

Articles

* 1950. "Comments on The Mask of Sanity, Second Edition by Hervey Cleckley" in ''General Semantics Bulletin'' 4 & 5: 71 * 1952. "Caveat emptor, or watch your blood pressure!", with Marjorie Mercer in ''General Semantics Bulletin'' 10 & 11: 96. * 1972. "About Books – Comments" in ''General Semantics Bulletin'' 37: 83

References

External links

M. Kendig:Time Binder
Short biography by Lloyd L. Morain. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kendig, Marjorie 1892 births 1981 deaths General semantics