Arthur W. Chickering | |
Birth Date: | 27 April 1927 |
Birth Place: | Natick, Massachusetts |
Death Place: | East Montpelier, Vermont |
Occupation: | Special Assistant to the President, Professor of Educational Leadership and Human Development, Author, Researcher |
Education: | B.A. Modern Comparative Literature - Wesleyan University (1950)M.A. degree English Education - Graduate School of Education, Harvard University (1951)Ph.D. degree School Psychology - Teachers College, Columbia University. (1959) [1] M.F.A degree in creative writing - Goddard College, 2012. |
Subject: | Student Affairs |
Notableworks: | Education and Identity |
Relatives: | Thelma Babbitt (mother) |
Arthur Wright Chickering (April 27, 1927 – August 15, 2020) was an American educational researcher in the field of student affairs. He was known for his contribution to student development theories. In 1990 he was appointed Dean of the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University. He was succeeded in 1992 by Dr. Gustavo A. Mellander. Chickering also taught at George Mason University and Goddard College. He worked at Goddard College as a Special Assistant to Presidents Schulman and Vacarr from 2002 to 2012.[2] Chickering died on August 15, 2020, in East Montpelier, VT.[3]
Chickering has received numerous awards for his service to the development of the fields of student affairs and college student development theories. These include:
While employed at Goddard College Chickering began the research that led to his most notable publication, Education and Identity. Between 1959 and 1969 he did testing on college students between their sophomore and senior years. Compiling this with data from several other dissimilar colleges he gathered through being the director of the Project on Student Development in Small Colleges, he created his theories of what influences and affects college students in their development. He published in 1969 which explained his seven-vector theory of student development. With the help of Linda Reisser, he updated and republished his theories in 1993.[4]
Arthur Chickering is the author of many publications relating to student affairs and college student development theories. These include: