Jacob W. Getzels; Wrote on Creativity, Intelligence

Jacob W. Getzels, 89, author of a classic text on creativity and intelligence. Getzels, a longtime professor at the University of Chicago, was considered one of the fathers of creativity research. His 1962 book, “Creativity and Intelligence,” co-written with Philip Jackson, is considered a classic in the field. Challenging accepted theory, the book asserted the role of creativity and personal values in the development of intelligence and broadened methods of testing intelligence in schools. Getzels was born in Bialystok, Poland, and immigrated as a child to the United States. He was educated at Brooklyn College, Columbia University and Harvard, where he earned a doctorate in social relations in 1951. That year he joined the faculty at the University of Chicago, where he was the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor. On April 7 in Chicago.