Max Siegel (July 22, 1918 – January 1, 1988) was an American psychologist and past president 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 ...

(APA). His faculty appointments included work at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

and

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of study. ...

. Siegel was interested in issues surrounding crime.

Early life

Siegel was born in New York City. He studied psychology at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, where he earned undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology. He earned a PhD from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and then studied under psychoanalyst

Erich Fromm Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the U ...

Career

Siegel established a mental health clinic at

for military veterans after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Siegel had a private psychotherapy practice in Brooklyn. He was a dean of students at Brooklyn College. Siegel studied the insanity defense, patient confidentiality, and issues surrounding crime victims. In a 1982 interview, he said that he had a sister who was murdered in New York, and the killer was set free five months later, after a not guilty by reason of insanity plea. He felt that psychologists should be used only as agents of the court rather than working for one side in a trial or the other. "I'm totally against psychologists being used as a prosecution or a defense," he said. In 1976, Siegel began flying from New York City to

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

, once per week to teach a course at

. Three years later, Siegel moved to Boca Raton and entered semi-retirement, limiting his practice to two days per week. Siegel served on President Reagan's Task Force on Violent Crimes. In semi-retirement, Siegel continued to work for

and gave an occasional lecture at Florida Atlantic University.

Later life

Siegel was president of the APA in 1983. During his tenure as president, he led the APA's purchase of the ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direct ...

'' magazine. He referred to the publication as "Siegel's folly" when the magazine ran into financial problems. Siegel died in a Boca Raton hospital in 1988 following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. He was survived by a wife and two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Max 1918 births 1988 deaths New York University alumni Brooklyn College faculty Florida Atlantic University faculty Nova Southeastern University faculty Presidents of the American Psychological Association 20th-century American psychologists