Jack Michael (January 16, 1926 – November 12, 2020) was an American psychologist and professor at Western Michigan University. He developed one of the first token economies, the concept of motivating operations (MOs), and is a pioneer of what is now referred to as applied behavior analysis (ABA, also called behavioral engineering).

Early life

Michael, named John Lester Michael, was born on January 16, 1926, in Los Angeles, California.^[1] He had no siblings. His father Lester Lioniel was an automobile mechanic and his mother Willie did not work outside of the home. He lived in a lower-middle-class neighborhood near downtown L.A. from the time he was 5 years old until he was drafted into the army at 18.^[1]

As a youth, he joined an inner city Hispanic gang but avoided fights, protected by members who needed his help with their own schoolwork. He developed an early love of reading, accompanying his mother to the library on Saturdays.^[2]

He attended elementary school from 1931 to 1937, Junior High School from 1938 to 1940, and High School from 1941 to 1943. He was in the Boy Scouts for about 3 years, took drum lessons, and played in a youth orchestra/marching band.^[1]

Career

Michael entered UCLA as a chemistry major in Fall 1943, completed one semester, then was drafted into the army in June 1944 (in the middle of his second semester). Although he was a very good student in high school, he was an average student at UCLA, earning a C-average his first year.^[1]

He was professor emeritus of psychology at Western Michigan University. He began teaching at WMU in 1967 and retired from the university in April 2003, teaching for a total of 36 years at WMU.^[1] He was married to Alyce Dickinson, former chairman of the I/O department at Western Michigan University.

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