Brendan Arnold Maher
Brendan Maher combined, in near perfect balance, extraordinary intelligence, restrained skepticism, an uncanny ability to detect foolishness, and an inspiring style of leadership throughout a long, distinguished career. Brendan added to this quartet impeccable integrity, a wry sense of humor, and a wisdom that colleagues, collaborators, and generations of students admired. Brendan was at home in both the laboratory and the seminar room. Many doctoral students found in Brendan the paramount example of teacher, advisor, and scholar, and junior faculty appreciated his belief that senior faculty had a responsibility to their junior colleagues. Brendan’s scholarship centered on the complex theoretical and empirical problems surrounding human psychopathology, especially the mental illness known as schizophrenia. One of Brendan’s seminal contributions was to bring the experimental strategies of the laboratory to research in this domain. His 1966 monograph, Principles of Psychopathology: An Experimental Approach, which was reprinted many times and translated into several languages,...