Clare W. Graves, professor of psychology
at Union College, is a specialist in the theory of personality
and its application to industrial and medical problems. he has
been a clinical psychologist and consultant for numerous governmental
agencies, institutions and industries, including the criminal
court of Cleveland, the Schenectady City Hospital, and Case Institute
of Technology.
Dr. Graves earned a bachelor's degree
from Union College in 1940 and returned to teach at his alma mater
in 1948 as an associate professor. During his eight year absence
he earned a master's and Ph.D. in psychology from Western Reserve
University in Cleveland, where he also taught for three years.
He was promoted to full professor at Union in 1956,
Dr. Graves is a member of a number of
professional societies, among them the American Psychological
Association, American Association of University Professors, and
the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He is married to the former Marian Huff
and the father of two children, Susan, 15, and Robert, 9.
[Some statements in the following obituary
which appeared in the student newspaper do not
reflect Dr. Graves' thinking or theory accurately, thus it is
offered here as an historical document only.]
In
Memoriam... (from the Union College Concordy,
January 16, 1986)
Dr. Clare W. Graves, professor
of psychology emeritus and originator of the Level Theory of Personality,
died Jan. 3 1986 at his home in Rexford, N.Y. He was 71.
Born in New Richmond, Ind.
(Dec. 21, 1914), Prof. Graves graduated from Union in 1940 and
received his master's degree and a Ph.D in psychology from Western
Reserve University in Cleveland. He taught at Western Reserve
before joining the Union faculty in 1948.
A specialist in the theory
of personality and its applications to industrial and medical
problems, Prof. Graves held that human behavior can be broken
down into seven patterns, or levels of existence. His theory suggested
that every person falls somewhere between level one, a human vegetable,
and level seven, the highest form. First published in the Harvard
Business Review in 1966, the theory attracted wide attention and
Prof. Graves became the subject of numerous magazines and newspaper
articles.
Prof. Graves, who retired in
1978, was a clinical psychologist and consultant for various government
agencies and had many articles published in professional and general
interest magazines. He was a member of Sigma Xi, the American
Psychological Association, and the American Association of University
Professors.
Survivors include his wife
Marian, a son, Robert of Niskayama, N.Y., a daughter, Susan Friday
of Gansevoort, N.Y.; a brother, Clyde of Albany, N.Y. and three
grandchildren.
