海角乱伦社区 Professor John D. Krumboltz, who developed the theory of planned happenstance, dies
John D. Krumboltz, retired professor of education and of psychology at 海角乱伦社区, died May 4, 2019, at his home on the university鈥檚 campus. He was 90.
Krumboltz, who came to 海角乱伦社区 in 1961, revolutionized the fields of behavioral and career counseling by applying social theories of learning to the making of life decisions.
In his six decades as one of America鈥檚 most influential psychologists, he was co-director of the 海角乱伦社区 Graduate School of Education鈥檚 and the widely read author of many scholarly and popular books, most recently Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win (with Ryan Babineaux, PhD 鈥04, 2014).
By demonstrating the value of counseling in a social context, Krumboltz inspired advances ranging from multicultural counseling to behavioral health care treatment.
鈥淗e was one of the first researchers in the field to place outcomes before process and to use scientific methods to determine whether certain psychological interventions worked,鈥 said Teresa LaFromboise, 海角乱伦社区 professor of education.
鈥淓specially among psychologists, he was the rare instance of someone who seamlessly stitched theory with practice,鈥 said Kenji Hakuta, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emeritus. 鈥淗e was a great teacher with an incredible diversity of students who admired and emulated his modeling. He also was a sympathetic and empathetic listener.鈥
Throughout Krumboltz鈥檚 sphere of influence, LaFromboise observed what she called 鈥渁n air of veneration for his ability to treat people with enduring kindness.鈥
His honors include the American Psychological Association鈥檚 2002 Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge and its 1990 Leona Tyler Award for advances in counseling psychology.
Other books he authored or co-authored include Behavioral Counseling: Cases and Techniques (with Carl E. Thoresen, 1969); Changing Children鈥檚 Behavior (with Helen B. Krumboltz, 1972) and Luck is No Accident: Making the Most of Happenstance in Your Life and Career (with Al Levin, 2004).
Retiring in 2015, Krumboltz remained active on campus, mailing copies of his books from his GSE office and writing a personal dedication in each.
John Krumboltz, right, with a simulation game for choosing careers. (Image credit: Jose Mercado)
Planned happenstance
Krumboltz was born Oct. 21, 1928 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He completed his undergraduate work at nearby Coe College, where he played varsity tennis and where he was prompted to study psychology by his coach, who also taught the subject. Krumboltz learned tennis, he said, only because he once rode a bicycle down an unfamiliar street where he saw kids playing a game that looked like fun.
He often cited this experience when talking about , the theory he developed with Levin and Kathleen Mitchell that says arbitrary events have important influence on people鈥檚 lives.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say, 鈥業鈥檓 going to teach you to ride a bicycle so you will major in psychology,鈥欌 Krumboltz said in 2013. 鈥淎ll these events that happen in life are unpredictable 鈥 and let鈥檚 be grateful that they鈥檙e unpredictable.鈥
In addition to planned happenstance, Krumboltz鈥檚 key scholarly work at 海角乱伦社区 included pioneering research that verified the effects of behavioral counseling interventions on client behavior. He developed the social learning theory of career decision making and the construction and validation of the .
鈥淲hat I most admired was that John didn鈥檛 always follow customary theory and proposed unconventional counseling strategies,鈥 said one of his first students, H.B. Gelatt, EdD 鈥64.
In co-leading the Counseling Psychology program with Professors Carl Thoresen and LaFromboise, Krumboltz said the first goal in its mission statement was for students to 鈥渄evelop a personally satisfying and balanced life.鈥
Krumboltz earned his master鈥檚 degree in counseling at Teachers College, Columbia University, and his PhD at the University of Minnesota. He was senior research scientist at the U.S. Air Force鈥檚 Personnel and Training Research Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, then taught educational psychology at Michigan State University.
He was recruited to 海角乱伦社区 by education Professor H.B. McDaniel, himself a guidance-counseling pioneer.
In tribute, Krumboltz would later help to found the , which supports educational counseling through awards, student grants and annual conferences at 海角乱伦社区.
Among his many activities, including a regular tennis game with colleagues on campus, Krumboltz supervised the student-led 海角乱伦社区 Institute for Behavioral Counseling on Alvarado Row, which served the surrounding community.
In the early 1970s, Krumboltz successfully argued against reinstating 鈥淔鈥 grades at 海角乱伦社区, which had been abolished in 1969.
鈥淢aking a permanent public record of failed attempts at mastery discourages academic exploration, instills a fear of learning, and impairs attainment of the purposes for which 海角乱伦社区 was founded,鈥 he wrote in Campus Report in 1992.
He abhorred reliance on testing to decide individuals鈥 fates, writing in 1981 that counselors cannot 鈥減rescribe a single occupational pill that will produce future euphoria.鈥
Rather, he said, they should teach people to ask, 鈥淲hat would be fun to try next?鈥
Krumboltz also believed that school counselors should not be limited to emotional problems or career guidance, which put them 鈥渙n the fringe of the educational endeavor,鈥 he wrote in 1987. Counselors should encourage students to love learning by integrating the insights of teachers, parents and others.
Krumboltz is survived by his wife, Betty; a brother, David; a sister, Margaret Ann Phillips. His blended family includes daughters Ann Krumboltz, Jennifer Krumboltz Somerville and Shauna Foster Nance and her two sons, Nicholas and Joshua; a son, Scott D. Foster; and four nieces and two nephews.
Memorial services are pending. The family asks that any memorial donations be directed to the in Kingsburg, Calif.
