$2-Million Faculty Gift Supports
Maurice L. Farber, professor emeritus of psychology, is giving $2 million to support scholarships and graduate fellowships in his former department.
Farber, who retired in 1977 after 29 years at UConn, has established a trust to benefit undergraduates who demonstrate financial need, as well as graduate students. Farber is described by those close to him as a gentle, cultivated man, an avid reader and a good listener. He wanted to help today’s students, particularly in light of the growing costs of a college education, says a family friend.
When Farber started teaching at UConn in 1948, the Department of Psychology had tripled in size from the 1930s, from three to about 10 faculty members. Many of its students were veterans attending UConn on the GI bill. Into this scene came an urbane young Maurice Farber.A native of New Jersey, he had studied at New York University and City College and had left medical school in Switzerland to become a clinical psychologist. During World War II, he served in intelligence and psychological warfare units of the U.S.Army in Europe.
He arrived in Storrs a sophisticated world traveler. Unlike other faculty members who bought homes close to campus, Farber found an old house outside of Stafford Springs surrounded by acres of land. Farber was a social and clinical psychologist and “an ideal mentor for students in both areas,” says Charles Lowe, professor and department head, who joined the faculty five years before Farber retired.
“I learned so much just by talking with Maury Farber,” he says.“He significantly influenced my development as a researcher and teacher.” Farber himself was mentored by social psychology pioneer Kurt Lewin at the University of Iowa. He wrote a well-received book, Theory of Suicide (1968), and he was also interested in the social psychology of political groups. He wrote many articles from a psychoanalytical viewpoint about national character and political behavior.
Jerome Smith, who was the department head when Farber retired, had worked with Farber as a graduate student in the 1950s and later as a member of the faculty. He summed up Farber’s achievements at a retirement reception in 1977.
“He has taught well, extended our knowledge, and been a warm friend and delight to his colleagues,” Smith recalled.
To support the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, please contact Frank Gifford, director of development, at 860.486.6798.
