Your Wishes or Thoughts about nate
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Please see below to Read the Comments, Thougts, and Wishes from Family, Friends, & Colleagues
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Friends Family Colleagues:Thoughts & Wishes
David Azrin
We are all so lucky to have had you in our lives and in this world.
Susan Godley
I first encounered Nate as a graduate student in what was then the 'Behavior Modification' program at Southern Illinois University in 1975. I was fortunate enough to take a class from him there before he left for Florida. There were 3 Colombian women in our class, and one, Ines Lombana, went on to work for Nate at his lab in Anna, IL and lived with us while she did so and that connection resulted in a life-long friendship and allowed me, my husband, and my daughter to experience the joys of visiting that country. My personal life and professional life have been profoundly influenced by Nate. I used 'time out' with my children and my daughter loved it when I showed her the pictures in what she called 'my potty train' book--and it did work well--that Toilet Training in a Day. Professionally, I have done research and training in a substance use approach for adolescents (A-CRA) that is a descendent of the early CRA work Nate led in Southern Illinois. As I think of Nate, I am overwhelmed by what a contribution Nate made to this world and what a life well-lived he had.
I love all the Azrin family pictures--so much joy is evident. Nate was such a gracious person--even with all his fame and accomplishments. Vicki and other family--I know your loss is great and send my heartfelt condolences.
I love all the Azrin family pictures--so much joy is evident. Nate was such a gracious person--even with all his fame and accomplishments. Vicki and other family--I know your loss is great and send my heartfelt condolences.
Tom Waltz
My heartfelt condolences to Dr. Azrin’s family. I am a clinical behavior analyst and the writings of Dr. Azrin and his students form the basis of my clinical work and research. I will be passing his commitment to humanism and science on to my students.
Sincerely, Tom Waltz
Sincerely, Tom Waltz
Rhonda Brayboy
I'm sorry for your lost of such a loved father and husband. God speed and bless, Vicki. Rhonda (Monitor tech, Special Care Unit, Broward Health North).
Robert Allan
Nate was one of the best - he was a careful researcher with field-changing research to his credit, a thoughtful contributor to the applied domain, and a wonderful man with many strengths. He was generous to the rest of us struggling in the research trenches.
Thank you Nate!!
Thank you Nate!!
Ron Dachman
In 1979 I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Azrin as a graduate student in the Behavior Modification Program at Southern Illinois University. He offered me a stipend to work as a research assistant on the alcohol treatment protocol. I also had the privilege of attending several of his lectures and seminars that were available through the program. One seminar that stands out focused on the differences between psychology and applied behavior analysis, and Dr. Azrin's proposal for severing ties with the field of psychology and viewing ABA as a stand alone science. His argument was cogent albeit provocative, and allowed this student to begin to fully appreciate the merits of applied behavior analysis.
I am currently a pediatric psychologist affiliated with Behavioral Psychology Associates in the Chicago metropolitan area. I have been working with children, teenagers, and families for over thirty years. Throughout the years not a week has gone by without introducing a protocol that has Nathan Azrin's fingerprints on it. The point is simple. Nathan Azrin's dedication to applied behavior analysis and the health and wellbeing of humankind is felt on a daily basis in ways he could not have imagined.
Please accept my deepest sympathies for your loss, but know that Dr. Azrin's voice will continue to be heard, his expertise sought, his legacy respected, and his passion felt by those of us "smart enough" to respect our elders. We try to rely on data whenever possible, but It boggles the mind to imagine the number of people who are quite simply better off because of the work he did.
I am currently a pediatric psychologist affiliated with Behavioral Psychology Associates in the Chicago metropolitan area. I have been working with children, teenagers, and families for over thirty years. Throughout the years not a week has gone by without introducing a protocol that has Nathan Azrin's fingerprints on it. The point is simple. Nathan Azrin's dedication to applied behavior analysis and the health and wellbeing of humankind is felt on a daily basis in ways he could not have imagined.
Please accept my deepest sympathies for your loss, but know that Dr. Azrin's voice will continue to be heard, his expertise sought, his legacy respected, and his passion felt by those of us "smart enough" to respect our elders. We try to rely on data whenever possible, but It boggles the mind to imagine the number of people who are quite simply better off because of the work he did.
Alan Kazdin
Reflections on Nate
In the 1970s, a group of behavioral/empirical types (Nathan Azrin, Stewart Agras, Walter Mischel, Jack Rachman, Terry Wilson, and I) was assembled for a year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, CA) to work on our own projects but also to collaborate and assess the status of behavior therapy given its strong and burgeoning evidence base. During that time we worked closely, collaborated, met, and got to know each other and the friendships endured long after the year ended. At the Center, there was some initial confusion of staff between “Azrin” and “Kazdin.” This even led to me being given a pseudonym (Kazrin), which is another story. Yet, to me the confusion was professionally ludicrous. For anyone who knows me and has had at least a nanosecond of exposure to Nate’s mind, perspective, and creativity, leaving aside accomplishments, there could never be any confusion.
Among his enduring talents was his ability to cut through all sorts of highfalutin theory and move to creative and practical hypotheses about interventions. In the mid-1950s with laboratory work on cooperation with children (with Ogden Lindsley) and then in the early 1960s in hospital work with psychiatric patients (with Ted Ayllon), he already had empirical demonstrations of this type using contingencies to alter behaviors. By the time of the first ever book on the token economy (1968) he was on the steep cumulative record slope of creative interventions. His intervention research was innovative, his designs often novel, and his thinking cutting-through and cutting edge. I wonder if he was amused at the much later emergence or delineation of evidence-based treatments given he was a one-man anthology of so many of them long before that term was common in psychology.
At the beginning of the year with him, it was immediately apparent how quickly and easily he moved to creative ideas often with just little twists of things that were known but made for bigger ideas. I would be sitting across from him at a table with just 4 or 5 other people and he would take a deliberative turn to speak and fairly slowly present a stunning alternative approach to something. After watching him, I was one of his most appreciative fans. I never felt for a moment anything like the thought, “I could have thought of that.” No, I could not have, even if aided by the infinite number of monkeys plunking at their tablets or laptops to write all the great novels. Being with him at small meetings would be like watching Picasso begin with a white canvas and quickly stroke some lines, add a few colors, and now there would be a face, a mood, a message, and something truly novel. How did a few lines lead to that? Nate did this with his mind, knowledge, and creative palate. A pleasure to watch in part because he made nothing of it—presumably Picasso did not paint a stroke and stop to say, “Hey did you see that?” Natural talent coupled with disciplined training is such a pleasure to watch. That same creativity smeared into his humor. He could turn a point so quickly and have you expecting one of his genuinely novel substantive hypotheses about how to change a clinical problem or address a weighty professional issue, when the surprise came of some clever quip about a what if this or that—and great humor he sneaked in while you might be waiting for great science.
There will be scores of wonderful stories from his collaborators in praise of his genius and they all deserve to be told. Here is one slightly more personal and of a different nature. One of my daughters was at toilet training age at the rise of then recently published Azrin and Richard Foxx’s Toilet Training in a Day (1974). Nate and I just arrived at my home and we were looking at my daughter with parental admiration and joy commonly (and pretty noncontingently) heaped on one’s children. I was holding her and thought it would be amusing to ask, “So how do you think we should toilet train her?” Without hesitating and with a mischievous smile, he said, “Just keep the door open when you and your wife go to the bathroom and that should take care of it.” I was stunned and teased him. I said with stunned disbelief, “Mahh-dling? modeling? Are you kidding?!” After all that?!” (“All that” being his book, translations of the book all over the world, most of the people on the planet under 5 being trained in a day, and half of those being trained personally by Azrin and Foxx). He was serious and equally amused and we had yet one more Nate generated source of joy.
He will be missed. Of all colleagues, I thought it would be so valuable to society and individuals in need of care to begin the process of identifying viable solutions by putting Nate in a room with a few like minds and have them brainstorm on strategies that could genuinely help people. The process might be accelerated by substituting mannequins for the other people so there no interruptions of Nate’s enormously creative ideas. What a privilege to have known him and to have been exposed to his mind and wit. The loss as well as his impact will be enduring.
Alan Kazdin, New Haven, March 31, 2013
In the 1970s, a group of behavioral/empirical types (Nathan Azrin, Stewart Agras, Walter Mischel, Jack Rachman, Terry Wilson, and I) was assembled for a year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, CA) to work on our own projects but also to collaborate and assess the status of behavior therapy given its strong and burgeoning evidence base. During that time we worked closely, collaborated, met, and got to know each other and the friendships endured long after the year ended. At the Center, there was some initial confusion of staff between “Azrin” and “Kazdin.” This even led to me being given a pseudonym (Kazrin), which is another story. Yet, to me the confusion was professionally ludicrous. For anyone who knows me and has had at least a nanosecond of exposure to Nate’s mind, perspective, and creativity, leaving aside accomplishments, there could never be any confusion.
Among his enduring talents was his ability to cut through all sorts of highfalutin theory and move to creative and practical hypotheses about interventions. In the mid-1950s with laboratory work on cooperation with children (with Ogden Lindsley) and then in the early 1960s in hospital work with psychiatric patients (with Ted Ayllon), he already had empirical demonstrations of this type using contingencies to alter behaviors. By the time of the first ever book on the token economy (1968) he was on the steep cumulative record slope of creative interventions. His intervention research was innovative, his designs often novel, and his thinking cutting-through and cutting edge. I wonder if he was amused at the much later emergence or delineation of evidence-based treatments given he was a one-man anthology of so many of them long before that term was common in psychology.
At the beginning of the year with him, it was immediately apparent how quickly and easily he moved to creative ideas often with just little twists of things that were known but made for bigger ideas. I would be sitting across from him at a table with just 4 or 5 other people and he would take a deliberative turn to speak and fairly slowly present a stunning alternative approach to something. After watching him, I was one of his most appreciative fans. I never felt for a moment anything like the thought, “I could have thought of that.” No, I could not have, even if aided by the infinite number of monkeys plunking at their tablets or laptops to write all the great novels. Being with him at small meetings would be like watching Picasso begin with a white canvas and quickly stroke some lines, add a few colors, and now there would be a face, a mood, a message, and something truly novel. How did a few lines lead to that? Nate did this with his mind, knowledge, and creative palate. A pleasure to watch in part because he made nothing of it—presumably Picasso did not paint a stroke and stop to say, “Hey did you see that?” Natural talent coupled with disciplined training is such a pleasure to watch. That same creativity smeared into his humor. He could turn a point so quickly and have you expecting one of his genuinely novel substantive hypotheses about how to change a clinical problem or address a weighty professional issue, when the surprise came of some clever quip about a what if this or that—and great humor he sneaked in while you might be waiting for great science.
There will be scores of wonderful stories from his collaborators in praise of his genius and they all deserve to be told. Here is one slightly more personal and of a different nature. One of my daughters was at toilet training age at the rise of then recently published Azrin and Richard Foxx’s Toilet Training in a Day (1974). Nate and I just arrived at my home and we were looking at my daughter with parental admiration and joy commonly (and pretty noncontingently) heaped on one’s children. I was holding her and thought it would be amusing to ask, “So how do you think we should toilet train her?” Without hesitating and with a mischievous smile, he said, “Just keep the door open when you and your wife go to the bathroom and that should take care of it.” I was stunned and teased him. I said with stunned disbelief, “Mahh-dling? modeling? Are you kidding?!” After all that?!” (“All that” being his book, translations of the book all over the world, most of the people on the planet under 5 being trained in a day, and half of those being trained personally by Azrin and Foxx). He was serious and equally amused and we had yet one more Nate generated source of joy.
He will be missed. Of all colleagues, I thought it would be so valuable to society and individuals in need of care to begin the process of identifying viable solutions by putting Nate in a room with a few like minds and have them brainstorm on strategies that could genuinely help people. The process might be accelerated by substituting mannequins for the other people so there no interruptions of Nate’s enormously creative ideas. What a privilege to have known him and to have been exposed to his mind and wit. The loss as well as his impact will be enduring.
Alan Kazdin, New Haven, March 31, 2013
Sheldon Kaplan, PhD
Friday I lost a colleague, mentor and friend. Psychology lost one of the great minds and prolific applied researchers in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Nate Azrin was my professor, on my dissertation committee, and was my supervising psychologist /employer at the then Behavior Research Lab at Anna State Hospital. We spent countless hours together, as he did with all of the young graduate research students, developing new techniques for helping others. My wife and I spent wonderful times together with Nate, Vicki and their children in their home in Carbondale and on their houseboat. They were always so gracious to us. When Nate moved to Florida, he and Vicki made it a point to come to our son's Bar Mitzvah and we got to see or talk to one another over the years here in Florida. The last time Nate and Vicki and Harriett and I saw one another, he graciously took us to dinner (I had to fight him for the check), then we walked the sands of Ft. Lauderdale Beach in our bare feet as we talked about our professional lives and aspirations here in Florida. Nate and Vicki loved one another so much and loved dancing together. Photos from the Bar Mitzvah show the happy couple dancing happily together. Nate inspired me to work hard, aspire and achieve my goals. I will always be grateful for the time I got to spend with him, for his sharing his knowledge, for his respect and mentorship, and his friendship. You will be sorely missed Nate, as you have touched the lives of many, advanced the field of behavior analysis, and helped resolve the clinically significant challenges of the needy. Farewell, mentor and friend. Sheldon Kaplan, PhD
Sheldon and Harriett Kaplan
Dear Vicki, Rachel, David, Michael, and Richard:
We were so sorry to hear of Nate's passing away. We have such fond memories of Nate and all of you. I have posted my professional and personal feelings about Nate and the loss of this fine individual on the Florida psychologists' listserv as well as on this website. We wish we could be with you during Shivah but know that our thoughts are with you at this time. Love, Sheldon and Harriett
We were so sorry to hear of Nate's passing away. We have such fond memories of Nate and all of you. I have posted my professional and personal feelings about Nate and the loss of this fine individual on the Florida psychologists' listserv as well as on this website. We wish we could be with you during Shivah but know that our thoughts are with you at this time. Love, Sheldon and Harriett
Lew Lipsitt
Very sad indeed. Wonderfully talented man. The photos at this site provide terrific memories of his vibrancy and generosity. Fields of behavior science and therapy have benefited greatly and in perpetuity from the advances that Nate pioneered.
Ron Van Houten
Vicki: Our field just lost a Giant, but his contribution will live on. Joy and I give our heart felt sympathy for your loss. Selfishly I will miss seeing Nate and talking with him at conferences. His insightful perspective will be greatly missed. In my prayers, Ron
Linda Sobell
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
What sad news! I wanted to add a few thoughts to Alan's reflections.
Alan and I were the "youth movement" that started at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1976. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that Nate was at the time one of the most famous "behavior therapists" in the world - so influential in some many different areas of applied behavior analysis. I felt very much like a graduate student in first meeting with this famous man. Yet I quickly learned how humble and friendly a person he was - and how generous he was in sharing his awesome experience and knowledge with our group. Nate and his wife Vicky were always very kind to my wife and I.
It was always great to touch base with Nate over the following years - usually at AABT meetings. It was wonderful to reminisce about that year. But then I did not see him for a long period - until two years ago. Lars Goran Ost organized a major CBT meeting in Stockholm. I was one of the participants - and Nate was one of the other keynote speakers. I learned why I had not seen him for the past 10 years or so. He had been struggling with a life-threatening illness involving major surgeries and other intrusive treatments. I think it would be hard to overstate the courage and resilience he had shown throughout this ordeal. Yet at this meeting it was the same old Nate! Quintessential Nate - enthusiastic about new developments, curious about how we might develop even more effective interventions, and always encouraging the various students and colleagues who were eager to talk with the great man. He gave a marvelous talk - although even in very summary form he did not have enough time to comment on the many innovations he had made. This was a trip down memory lane that I shall never forget. And at a dinner one of the nights with me and Lars Goran he explained how as a graduate student at Harvard he had ended-up working with Skinner - and the rest is history, as they say. In short, he wanted to help people and promote change. That led him to Skinner - but with the goal to take those principles and philosophy and apply them to social behavior. We toasted him for having achieved incomparable success!
What a lovely and brilliant man! As Jerry noted, a mensch.
Best Wishes
Terry
P.S. Far be it for me to ever question Alan, but Jack Rachman and I take credit for the appellation of "Kazrin". See BRAT, 1979, 17, 397-399.
What sad news! I wanted to add a few thoughts to Alan's reflections.
Alan and I were the "youth movement" that started at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1976. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that Nate was at the time one of the most famous "behavior therapists" in the world - so influential in some many different areas of applied behavior analysis. I felt very much like a graduate student in first meeting with this famous man. Yet I quickly learned how humble and friendly a person he was - and how generous he was in sharing his awesome experience and knowledge with our group. Nate and his wife Vicky were always very kind to my wife and I.
It was always great to touch base with Nate over the following years - usually at AABT meetings. It was wonderful to reminisce about that year. But then I did not see him for a long period - until two years ago. Lars Goran Ost organized a major CBT meeting in Stockholm. I was one of the participants - and Nate was one of the other keynote speakers. I learned why I had not seen him for the past 10 years or so. He had been struggling with a life-threatening illness involving major surgeries and other intrusive treatments. I think it would be hard to overstate the courage and resilience he had shown throughout this ordeal. Yet at this meeting it was the same old Nate! Quintessential Nate - enthusiastic about new developments, curious about how we might develop even more effective interventions, and always encouraging the various students and colleagues who were eager to talk with the great man. He gave a marvelous talk - although even in very summary form he did not have enough time to comment on the many innovations he had made. This was a trip down memory lane that I shall never forget. And at a dinner one of the nights with me and Lars Goran he explained how as a graduate student at Harvard he had ended-up working with Skinner - and the rest is history, as they say. In short, he wanted to help people and promote change. That led him to Skinner - but with the goal to take those principles and philosophy and apply them to social behavior. We toasted him for having achieved incomparable success!
What a lovely and brilliant man! As Jerry noted, a mensch.
Best Wishes
Terry
P.S. Far be it for me to ever question Alan, but Jack Rachman and I take credit for the appellation of "Kazrin". See BRAT, 1979, 17, 397-399.
Steven Hayes
We've lost the half of the ABCT Presidents from our first decade. Clearly, the DPS needs to do
something in Nashville to acknowledge this loss.
Michel's post reminded me of a time among basic behavior analysts, before he moved into the applied arena,
that Nate was so powerful, creative, and hardworking that people practically quaked when they
were working in areas he was involved in. Nate was there first, over and over again.
He practically owned the area of punishment and aversive conditioning in animal operant work
(until he moved on to applied work). When a new issue of JEAB came out, you could be certain
Nate would have something ground breaking in it. I've never seen
anything like it since -- in which a single individual so towered over an area that everyone
was in his shadow. Despite his productivity, he cared about the work more so than the praise ... it wasn't a big ego thing with him.
He was just more creative and harder working than anyone else.
You saw those same qualities after he entered into the applied arena. Over and over again he came up
with creative ideas that have withstood the test of time. To this day, many of them are gold standards.
The word "giant" is not overblown in his case. The guy truly was a giant.
- S
something in Nashville to acknowledge this loss.
Michel's post reminded me of a time among basic behavior analysts, before he moved into the applied arena,
that Nate was so powerful, creative, and hardworking that people practically quaked when they
were working in areas he was involved in. Nate was there first, over and over again.
He practically owned the area of punishment and aversive conditioning in animal operant work
(until he moved on to applied work). When a new issue of JEAB came out, you could be certain
Nate would have something ground breaking in it. I've never seen
anything like it since -- in which a single individual so towered over an area that everyone
was in his shadow. Despite his productivity, he cared about the work more so than the praise ... it wasn't a big ego thing with him.
He was just more creative and harder working than anyone else.
You saw those same qualities after he entered into the applied arena. Over and over again he came up
with creative ideas that have withstood the test of time. To this day, many of them are gold standards.
The word "giant" is not overblown in his case. The guy truly was a giant.
- S
Ray Ferrero
Condolences to you and your family. he will always be remembered by me .
